A/N: My sister thinks I should tell you this. Uh, I use a strange format of using these quotation marks: " as speech marks, and these quotation marks: ' as a way of expressing the thoughts of a character, rather than using italics. So just... bear that in mind if you didn't work it out before. ^^;;
"We'll see you at the auditorium, then."
Yosaku said, and Zoro nodded.
"See you two."
"Later!"
Johnny and Yosaku chorused before heading towards the upper floors while Zoro headed down, sighing.
How had two days sped by so quickly?
"Ooh, that one over there."
Jenna squealed, pointing at a student heading down the steps with a blue bandanna. Tashigi, reading a book while she ate on a table opposite, paused to look. She didn't see him, and continued to read, although Jenna's voice disrupted the text her eyes were trying to read.
"He's new - just came two days ago - and he's so cool. He's got piercings in all the right places, and his build's really good,"
She gushed,
"Not to mention that he's really good looking! He's mine!"
"But how about Ross?"
"Oh please! It's been a month already. I'm going to snag the new guy."
All the girls giggled as Tashigi rolled her eyes. Was that all they talked about? Boys? Sad, she thought with a shake of her head as she sipped her apple juice.
Jenna was the 'leader', so call it, of her posse - the one who hissed in her ear all the time, who Tashigi knew as the Bitch. Carrie and Marie came next, then Casey and Yuina were sort of in the background, but just as bitchy as the others.
"What're staring at, raven?"
Tashigi glanced up to see Carrie smirking at her.
"Do you wanna talk with us? Dreaming you could be part of our group?"
"Bitchier than usual, Carrie,"
Tashigi answered calmly. She surprised herself; she had never had the guts to say anything in that tone back to any of the bitches. However, she felt much braver at the moment - because of Jonathan.
"Is the idea of Jon with me that unbearable?"
Carrie's eyes narrowed, although her smirk was still plastered on her face.
"I wouldn't be so cocky, Tashigi,"
She said silkily. Tashigi rolled her eyes, pushing herself away from the table and standing up. She had to get ready now if she wanted to be at least a bit presentable at the dinner dance tonight. She still glowed at the fact that this was the first dinner-dance she was going to with a date since... the time she had been with... she shook her head quickly to rid herself of the memory. All the other times, she had managed to make up false excuses to avoid going to the social worker.
But with Jonathan... Maybe she could pull her social life together from now. Just maybe...
She couldn't resist smiling as she made her way out of the cafeteria, but for some reason the sound of high-pitched laughter coming from the table struck dischord in her. Against her better judgement, she ignored it.
"I don't believe this."
Zoro muttered, looping a black belt through the loops of his trousers. Sanji grinned at him.
The two students were busy getting ready in the last twenty minutes before the dinner dance. Typically, most of the girls had been getting ready since hours ago, but these two only required a couple of minutes to change and add cologne.
"Wear a jacket,"
Sanji warned Zoro as he noticed him rolling up the sleeves of his white-shirt,
"It can get freezing in there."
"I'll manage,"
Zoro retorted, buttoning his folded sleeves into place,
"I don't get cold that easily. I'm not like you, pretty boy."
A nerve twitched on Sanji's temple.
"Stop calling me that."
"I'll call you whatever I want."
"....Cabbage-head."
"Cabbage-head?!!"
"I'll call you whatever I want."
Annoyed at the stupid smirk on Sanji's face, Zoro stood up and stalked towards the door. Sanji raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Hey, hey, hold on! Where's your tie?"
"I didn't bring one."
Zoro replied. He hadn't exactly expected a dinner dance within the same week of his arrival, after all. He also didn't want to pull out the tie his mom had given him just in case of a formal occasion. It was a baby-pink and yellow checkered tie that he wasn't really proud of.
"You can't go down without a tie."
"Sure I can."
"No you can't. You'll be the only one not wearing one."
Zoro hesitated. In all truth, he didn't really want to stand out - especially when he was new already.
"Er..."
"Here... I'll lend you one."
Zoro raised his eyebrows in surprise at Sanji's sudden charity as he tossed him a long piece of navy blue silk.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"...Nothing."
He slung it beneath his collar and began to tie it. However, all he got was a ridiculously complicated knot.
"Er..."
"Having problems, cabbage-head?"
Sanji asked with an annoyingly superior grin,
"Need help?"
"No, I don't,"
Zoro said hotly as he pried the knot loose,
"You can keep to yourself you stupid cook."
There was a long silence as Zoro attempted to tie his tie again. He was concentrating so hard on his tie he didn't notice Sanji's mouth was hanging open, his cigarette sagging out at the side.
"H-hey."
"Yeah, what?"
Zoro snapped crankily as he discovered yet another way to tangle silk.
"When... did I tell you I like to cook?"
Blinking, he looked up to see Sanji looking at him strangely.
"No."
"Did anyone else tell you?"
"No."
Zoro repeated. He looked curiously at the blonde before asking,
"Why the hell are you asking me this?"
"You just called me a stupid cook."
Did he? Zoro backtracked his memory. Yeah... he did. He called him that all the time.
"Yeah, I know. I call you that all the time. What's so surprising?"
Rolling his eyes and covering his terribly tied tie with a hand, Zoro walked out of the dorm room, ignoring the alarm bell at the back of his head. He silenced it so he could think of more pressing matters at the moment.
He couldn't help but feel nervous. What was he supposed to do at a dinner dance? Eat dinner and dance? Hopefully it's that simple, he thought, hopefully. Man, he hated these events. They could really live without them.
Sanji stared after the leaving green-head. Something was wrong. His chest tightened. Something seriously weird was going on.
It wasn't just now, either...
'I'll kill you one day, bastard.'
Those words still resonated in his mind like an annoying fly, refusing to go away, and he knew something was very important about those words. What was it, though? He'd have to find another time to think about it, he thought as he glanced at his watch, he had five minutes to get to the auditorium.
As he walked out of the dorm, shutting off the light and the door before lighting a new cigarette, Sanji mumbled,
"We just met two days ago, genius. You have never called me that."
Threading her fingers through her hair, Nami checked that the red glitter spread evenly through her orange tresses before running a comb through it just one more time.
"Ready yet, Nami?"
Her blue-haired room-mate asked, peeking around the bathroom door.
"Yeah, almost,"
Nami replied, leaning closely to the mirror to flick off a tiny clump of mascara nestling on an eyelash,
"Just tell me - is there any glitter on my dress?"
She stood up and gave a spin for her friend, wine-red material flowing around her thighs before settling just above her knees.
"Yeah, loads,"
Her friend replied with a bit of a sweat-drop.
"Oh crap!!"
Nami panicked, trying to shake off the glitter but fruitlessly,
"This is really bad!!"
"No, it's not,"
Her friend said quickly, smiling brightly,
"Look! It'll sparkle under the lights nicely."
"But it's red glitter, no one will notice it,"
Nami said with a frown, when her friend grinned and grabbed the small container of silver glitter. Without even giving a second for Nami, she shook a whole lot of silver glitter all over Nami's dress, making Nami gasp.
"VIVI!!"
"Relax. Shake it a little. It'll look fantastic."
It did, Nami had to admit after shaking most of the glitter off. Since the lights were dim in the auditorium, she knew it would sparkle softly. She gave her room-mate a hug, making her squeal because the teal silk of her dress now began to shine silver.
"Nami!!"
"Aww, I was just paying you back the favour,"
Nami laughed, and picking up her hand-bag and Vivi's arm, she said happily,
"Let's go!"
Brilliantly coloured streamers hung from wall to wall, the crepe paper looped over obstructions like the spotlights that shone above the stage. Someone had sprayed white frost-like patterns with an aerosol all over the large glass plates of the windows, and multi-coloured filters had been put on the lights, lighting the dance floor red and yellow.
"Why the hell are there snow patterns on the windows when it's not even Christmas?"
Zoro asked Johnny as they entered the auditorium. Johnny took a look at the windows and opened his mouth to reply, when a piercing sound caused everyone to cringe but turn to look at the stage, where Mr. Harrison stood holding a microphone.
"Sorry about that."
He said sheepishly, and the students gathered around the stage. Zoro looked around, seeing that the center of the auditorium was clear of anything, and white-clothed tables were set in front of longer dining tables covered in silver platters and serving cutlery. He spotted a stack of plates at the far end of the auditorium.
"Well, just in case you didn't know, it is the Grand Line's tenth year anniversary, and we love to celebrate anniversaries with these classy 'dinner dances', don't we? Although it's more of a eat and dance till you drop!"
"Blah blah blah,"
Zoro muttered, ignoring the fact that the people behind him who had been listening with rapt attention were now glaring at him.
"Socialising in an aspect of Grand Line that we take very seriously,"
Spoke the dean,
"So I hope we have as much fun as food and dancing, alright?"
Suddenly, his eyes were riveted on Zoro. Startled, Zoro looked away, but even as Mr. Harrison continued, he could still feel his eyes boring into him. Zoro groaned inwardly.
"We'll see you at the auditorium, then."
Yosaku said, and Zoro nodded.
"See you two."
"Later!"
Johnny and Yosaku chorused before heading towards the upper floors while Zoro headed down, sighing.
How had two days sped by so quickly?
"Ooh, that one over there."
Jenna squealed, pointing at a student heading down the steps with a blue bandanna. Tashigi, reading a book while she ate on a table opposite, paused to look. She didn't see him, and continued to read, although Jenna's voice disrupted the text her eyes were trying to read.
"He's new - just came two days ago - and he's so cool. He's got piercings in all the right places, and his build's really good,"
She gushed,
"Not to mention that he's really good looking! He's mine!"
"But how about Ross?"
"Oh please! It's been a month already. I'm going to snag the new guy."
All the girls giggled as Tashigi rolled her eyes. Was that all they talked about? Boys? Sad, she thought with a shake of her head as she sipped her apple juice.
Jenna was the 'leader', so call it, of her posse - the one who hissed in her ear all the time, who Tashigi knew as the Bitch. Carrie and Marie came next, then Casey and Yuina were sort of in the background, but just as bitchy as the others.
"What're staring at, raven?"
Tashigi glanced up to see Carrie smirking at her.
"Do you wanna talk with us? Dreaming you could be part of our group?"
"Bitchier than usual, Carrie,"
Tashigi answered calmly. She surprised herself; she had never had the guts to say anything in that tone back to any of the bitches. However, she felt much braver at the moment - because of Jonathan.
"Is the idea of Jon with me that unbearable?"
Carrie's eyes narrowed, although her smirk was still plastered on her face.
"I wouldn't be so cocky, Tashigi,"
She said silkily. Tashigi rolled her eyes, pushing herself away from the table and standing up. She had to get ready now if she wanted to be at least a bit presentable at the dinner dance tonight. She still glowed at the fact that this was the first dinner-dance she was going to with a date since... the time she had been with... she shook her head quickly to rid herself of the memory. All the other times, she had managed to make up false excuses to avoid going to the social worker.
But with Jonathan... Maybe she could pull her social life together from now. Just maybe...
She couldn't resist smiling as she made her way out of the cafeteria, but for some reason the sound of high-pitched laughter coming from the table struck dischord in her. Against her better judgement, she ignored it.
"I don't believe this."
Zoro muttered, looping a black belt through the loops of his trousers. Sanji grinned at him.
The two students were busy getting ready in the last twenty minutes before the dinner dance. Typically, most of the girls had been getting ready since hours ago, but these two only required a couple of minutes to change and add cologne.
"Wear a jacket,"
Sanji warned Zoro as he noticed him rolling up the sleeves of his white-shirt,
"It can get freezing in there."
"I'll manage,"
Zoro retorted, buttoning his folded sleeves into place,
"I don't get cold that easily. I'm not like you, pretty boy."
A nerve twitched on Sanji's temple.
"Stop calling me that."
"I'll call you whatever I want."
"....Cabbage-head."
"Cabbage-head?!!"
"I'll call you whatever I want."
Annoyed at the stupid smirk on Sanji's face, Zoro stood up and stalked towards the door. Sanji raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Hey, hey, hold on! Where's your tie?"
"I didn't bring one."
Zoro replied. He hadn't exactly expected a dinner dance within the same week of his arrival, after all. He also didn't want to pull out the tie his mom had given him just in case of a formal occasion. It was a baby-pink and yellow checkered tie that he wasn't really proud of.
"You can't go down without a tie."
"Sure I can."
"No you can't. You'll be the only one not wearing one."
Zoro hesitated. In all truth, he didn't really want to stand out - especially when he was new already.
"Er..."
"Here... I'll lend you one."
Zoro raised his eyebrows in surprise at Sanji's sudden charity as he tossed him a long piece of navy blue silk.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"...Nothing."
He slung it beneath his collar and began to tie it. However, all he got was a ridiculously complicated knot.
"Er..."
"Having problems, cabbage-head?"
Sanji asked with an annoyingly superior grin,
"Need help?"
"No, I don't,"
Zoro said hotly as he pried the knot loose,
"You can keep to yourself you stupid cook."
There was a long silence as Zoro attempted to tie his tie again. He was concentrating so hard on his tie he didn't notice Sanji's mouth was hanging open, his cigarette sagging out at the side.
"H-hey."
"Yeah, what?"
Zoro snapped crankily as he discovered yet another way to tangle silk.
"When... did I tell you I like to cook?"
Blinking, he looked up to see Sanji looking at him strangely.
"No."
"Did anyone else tell you?"
"No."
Zoro repeated. He looked curiously at the blonde before asking,
"Why the hell are you asking me this?"
"You just called me a stupid cook."
Did he? Zoro backtracked his memory. Yeah... he did. He called him that all the time.
"Yeah, I know. I call you that all the time. What's so surprising?"
Rolling his eyes and covering his terribly tied tie with a hand, Zoro walked out of the dorm room, ignoring the alarm bell at the back of his head. He silenced it so he could think of more pressing matters at the moment.
He couldn't help but feel nervous. What was he supposed to do at a dinner dance? Eat dinner and dance? Hopefully it's that simple, he thought, hopefully. Man, he hated these events. They could really live without them.
Sanji stared after the leaving green-head. Something was wrong. His chest tightened. Something seriously weird was going on.
It wasn't just now, either...
'I'll kill you one day, bastard.'
Those words still resonated in his mind like an annoying fly, refusing to go away, and he knew something was very important about those words. What was it, though? He'd have to find another time to think about it, he thought as he glanced at his watch, he had five minutes to get to the auditorium.
As he walked out of the dorm, shutting off the light and the door before lighting a new cigarette, Sanji mumbled,
"We just met two days ago, genius. You have never called me that."
Threading her fingers through her hair, Nami checked that the red glitter spread evenly through her orange tresses before running a comb through it just one more time.
"Ready yet, Nami?"
Her blue-haired room-mate asked, peeking around the bathroom door.
"Yeah, almost,"
Nami replied, leaning closely to the mirror to flick off a tiny clump of mascara nestling on an eyelash,
"Just tell me - is there any glitter on my dress?"
She stood up and gave a spin for her friend, wine-red material flowing around her thighs before settling just above her knees.
"Yeah, loads,"
Her friend replied with a bit of a sweat-drop.
"Oh crap!!"
Nami panicked, trying to shake off the glitter but fruitlessly,
"This is really bad!!"
"No, it's not,"
Her friend said quickly, smiling brightly,
"Look! It'll sparkle under the lights nicely."
"But it's red glitter, no one will notice it,"
Nami said with a frown, when her friend grinned and grabbed the small container of silver glitter. Without even giving a second for Nami, she shook a whole lot of silver glitter all over Nami's dress, making Nami gasp.
"VIVI!!"
"Relax. Shake it a little. It'll look fantastic."
It did, Nami had to admit after shaking most of the glitter off. Since the lights were dim in the auditorium, she knew it would sparkle softly. She gave her room-mate a hug, making her squeal because the teal silk of her dress now began to shine silver.
"Nami!!"
"Aww, I was just paying you back the favour,"
Nami laughed, and picking up her hand-bag and Vivi's arm, she said happily,
"Let's go!"
Brilliantly coloured streamers hung from wall to wall, the crepe paper looped over obstructions like the spotlights that shone above the stage. Someone had sprayed white frost-like patterns with an aerosol all over the large glass plates of the windows, and multi-coloured filters had been put on the lights, lighting the dance floor red and yellow.
"Why the hell are there snow patterns on the windows when it's not even Christmas?"
Zoro asked Johnny as they entered the auditorium. Johnny took a look at the windows and opened his mouth to reply, when a piercing sound caused everyone to cringe but turn to look at the stage, where Mr. Harrison stood holding a microphone.
"Sorry about that."
He said sheepishly, and the students gathered around the stage. Zoro looked around, seeing that the center of the auditorium was clear of anything, and white-clothed tables were set in front of longer dining tables covered in silver platters and serving cutlery. He spotted a stack of plates at the far end of the auditorium.
"Well, just in case you didn't know, it is the Grand Line's tenth year anniversary, and we love to celebrate anniversaries with these classy 'dinner dances', don't we? Although it's more of a eat and dance till you drop!"
"Blah blah blah,"
Zoro muttered, ignoring the fact that the people behind him who had been listening with rapt attention were now glaring at him.
"Socialising in an aspect of Grand Line that we take very seriously,"
Spoke the dean,
"So I hope we have as much fun as food and dancing, alright?"
Suddenly, his eyes were riveted on Zoro. Startled, Zoro looked away, but even as Mr. Harrison continued, he could still feel his eyes boring into him. Zoro groaned inwardly.