Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. I am just a fan who needs to probably get her wild imagination under control a little bit. That should be obvious, seeing as- well, come on, would I really be posting this here if it weren't a fan work? But hey, better safe than sorry~ You never know, someone could get confused. ;P
Genre(s): Friendship, Coming-Of-Age, Drama, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Humor
Pairing(s): Luffy x Nami, Zoro x Nami, a biiit of Luffy x Hancock, Nojiko x Ace, Ace x Nami. There will kind of be a bunch of ship teasing everywhere, though, but when it comes down to it, Luffy x Nami will be endgame and their relationship is the central focus of the fic.
Rated T for: Child abuse, mentions and instances of rape, touches upon mental disorders, frequent angst (seriously ya'll, brace yourselves for that) occasional violence, spicy moments, Luffy's stupidity, fluff, sometimes not-so-innocent fluff, occasional inappropriate commentary on topics that are deemed sensitive by society , frequent curse words, and just.. themes that teens would probably identify more with. Also rated T due to just plain teenage shenanigans that go on during adolescence. (I mean, come, what else would you expect out of a fic taking place in high school? Get outta here~) Also, be warned for OOC-ness, a lot of guilty pleasure moments, and high school tropes. You have been warned.
Without further ado, welcome, readers, to my first story on this account! This story in particular is one that I've been thinking about writing ever since I was fifteen, but never got around to writing until, well, recently. I won't go into too many details about what it's about, but, the premise itself should be enough to understand the general gist of it. All I can say is that, my goal with this fic is to write something that's a bit darker that most high school fics, but that at the same time, doesn't shy away from the moments that make our adolescence great. The story takes a turn for the darker later on and ultimately becomes a deconstruction of the standard high school fic you find on this site. (Several tropes; such as the 'Alpha Bitch', 'Adults are useless', for example, will be TORN TO SHREDS IN THIS FIC HAHA.) That being said, it still acknowledges and embraces its status as a high school fic, which is why this story will be riddled with guilty pleasures, for your reading pleasure. ;)
Also, it's possible that the rating miiiiiight bump up to M later on, due to the darker themes included in the later half and due to, uh, reasons that aren't exactly safe for work. if you know what I mean. -wink wink- (NOT IMPLYING A POTENTIAL LEMON OR ANYTHING AHAHAH)
Hope you enjoy! :3
xx
"Wait, don't leave me, Gwen!"
On instinct, Nami's head jerks upward, and for a moment she's half-tempted to turn around in the direction of where the voice is coming from, but she decides against it upon remembering what duties she needs to fulfill. She looks back at the produce. Okay, so… what exactly is it I need? Her gaze falls upon the tomatoes that sit in the bottom container. Right, tomatoes.
"Forget it, Brad. I'm sick and tired of your games. It's over. Get that through your thick head!
Nami's eyebrow twitches, that line catching her attention and filling her in on the context of the situation a bit, but she tries to resist the temptation of eavesdropping regardless. She takes a deep breath, and focuses her attention back onto the tomatoes she needs to pick.
"I swear I'll change! Please, I love you!"
The sound of a cheek getting slapped reverberates throughout the entire grocery store, and despite her better judgment, Nami turns around to see just what the hell is going on.
A blond boy around her age, if not younger, sits on the ground while rubbing his left cheek. The person responsible for this display is most likely the brown-haired girl who stands before him, who looks to be around the same age.
"How many times have I heard you say that before?!" The girl shrieks. "I don't buy it anymore!"
"Everyone's looking at us, Gwen…" he whines. Nami blinks, and look around just to see if what he's saying is true. While there aren't many people in the store to begin with, the people who are, including herself, admittedly all have their eyes locked on the two of them. She almost kind of feels sorry for the two of them; then again, they are the ones out making a scene, and in public, no less.
The girl's face flushes at his comment. "They wouldn't be looking if you hadn't provoked me!" she snaps, and she raises a fist up high, looking ready to strike at any moment. Sadly enough, her attention just happens to shift to Nami at that moment.
"What are you looking at?!"
Nami's temper is involuntarily triggered by the way she's addressed, a part of her personality she tries hard to keep under control most of the time, and for a split-second she debates on what matters to her more; keeping a low-profile, or letting this girl know her place. But, at the end of the day, logic prevails above all, and Nami looks away, keeping an indifferent exterior. Getting involved in whatever these two teenagers are fighting about won't help her in the long run, after all.
The girl snorts haughtily, as if to say, "Yeah, that's what I thought," and diverts her attention back to the boy, who cowers under her unwavering glare.
"You can explain whatever you want to me outside," she snarls, and strangely, there's this weird hopeful-dare Nami say- happy, look on his face, and he nods violently. She then grabs him by the arm and drags him towards the door. "Let's go."
"I knew you still loved me, baby!" he cries out just before they leave the store. "Shut up!" is the last word Nami hears come out from that girl, and from that pair in general.
For a moment or two, Nami just stares stupidly after them, mind rendered at a complete loss after having witnessed that exchange, and once she comes back to her senses, all she does is let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
"Seriously… what's wrong with people these days…" She mutters out, partially in an attempt that someone in the store will hear her and agree, but when she looks back up, everyone's off minding their own business again, almost as if that bizarre exchange never happened. She frowns.
She may not have been in this town for very long, and while she usually actively tries not to judge a book by its cover (keyword; try), its residents are already starting to leave a pretty bad impression on her.
"Excuse me, young lady," a raspy voice says behind her, and she turns around to see an old woman standing behind her.
Nami blinks. "Yes?"
The old lady points to Nami's feet. "Are those yours?"
At first, Nami's incredulous by the fact that one is stupid enough to ask another person if their feet belong to them, especially an old lady, but it's only until after she looks down that she realizes that the only stupid person here is Nami herself. Tomatoes lay sprawled out all over the floor, and for a moment, the eighteen-year old is silent as she takes this information in.
"Are you alright?" The lady asks worriedly.
Nami sighs, snapping back to reality, and she gets to her knees to start picking up the fallen vegetables. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you, Ma'am, for asking." She then slowly starts to put them into the plastic bag she had picked out for them to be in earlier. "I must have dropped all of this due to all the… commotion, earlier on. Thanks for pointing it out; I didn't even realize that I had."
"It's no problem," the lady says kindly, and without asking she gets to her knees as well. Just as Nami's about to tell her that she doesn't have to give her a hand, the lady adds, "Those two kids… they were making quite a scene earlier on. It was disrespectful of them to act like that, especially in a public. It's only natural to get distracted by something like that."
Two emotions flood over Nami at that moment; one part of her is ecstatic that she's finally met someone normal in this strange, aloof town, while the other is a bit troubled by the old lady's remark. No matter what anyone else may say, it's not natural for Nami to get distracted by occurrences that don't concern her. One of the few things she's ever prided herself on is her ability to be focused completely on whatever task is at hand, whether she liked doing it or not; self-discipline is something that's been imposed on Nami her entire life, it's something her parents strongly enforced on her and it used to be one of her core values for a long time. Even if that exact same discipline may have gotten her into trouble and been the cause of her suffering for the last five years of her life, regardless, it's still something that's been drilled into her from a young age, and something she used to be effective at maintaining.
But ever since she's moved to this town, her motivation and willpower have been failing her. She used to always have strong reasons as to why she'd do whatever she did, even if they were for better or worse, but now, she hasn't got any particular goals in mind that would normally push her into becoming a better version of herself. Nothing propels her anymore, nothing feels like a good justification, especially since a lot of what she's told to do probably won't even matter in the long run. Focusing on even miniscule tasks feels insurmountable, and she doesn't even feel a sense of satisfaction when she gets them done. A lot of what she feels most of the time is just bitterness towards everything and everyone, and resentment towards those who live easier lives, yet still take what they have for granted.
Not to mention, the amount of crazy people this town offers is overwhelming, and it seems that no matter where she turns, something or someone shows up and detracts her from whatever she's doing. So then again, the woman does have a point; it is very difficult to be concentrated on whatever task is at hand when people like that are waltzing around society.
"Yeah, they really were making a big scene," Nami says with a frown. "I don't know what's wrong with people these days. Some people need to learn some self-control. They're in public, for Christs' sake..."
While she normally tries to speak politely to her elders, Nami's been craving to engage in a casual conversation with someone other than her sister and her therapist in this town for a while, and this woman seems like the perfect candidate with whom she can partake in one, despite being a senior citizen. They do seem to have something in common, after all.
Oddly enough, though, instead of complaining along with her, a small smile plays on the woman's lips. "You have to admit, it was pretty entertaining. Watching teenagers fight like that, over silly things, without having a care in the world… it's like watching something out of a TV show."
Nami's admittedly surprised by this response; she didn't expect her to find humor in the situation. Frankly, though, she's also a bit disappointed by this stance of hers; she was expecting an elderly woman such as herself be against such behavior, not openly condone it.
"Well, I wasn't entertained," Nami replies curtly, although as soon as those words exit her mouth, she wonders if they're really true. She shakes the thought away; did it really matter if she was entertained or not? Their behavior was still immature, they were setting a bad example for other young adults such as herself. So it didn't matter.
Once they finish picking up all of the tomatoes, they get back to their feet and Nami thanks her, and wonders if she should tell her how dangerous her way of thinking is for the youth of the country, but the old woman apparently doesn't know how to shut up. "Teenagers will be teenagers," she says, way too warmly for Nami's taste, "I won't lie; I used to be like them, once. Young, reckless, and in love. That's all a part of growing up. If you ask me, I'd give anything to be like that again. I remember when I..."
Nami can only stare at this woman in silence as she continues rambling on about the wonders of adolescence. The more she runs her mouth, the more Nami questions why she even decided to start talking to her in the first place. And it's a shame, too; for the first time, Nami thought she had met someone in this town with whom she could actually identify with. But then again, there really was no point in the first place, trying to connect with somebody who grew up with an entirely different generation than her, and probably didn't go through half the things she personally has.
For a bit, Nami kind of just zones out while the lady's talking, waiting for an opening where she can swiftly end the conversation and be done with her, but then the lady just says this one sentence, this one really, really pretentious sentence, that is so cliche and heard everywhere, a line that catches Nami completely off-guard and makes her nearly drop her tomatoes again, that she just has to take a double-take;
"Teenage years are the best years of a person's life."
Nami's fairly certain she would have choked on air the moment those words left the old lady's mouth, if something like that were possible. Instead, she stares at the old lady with her mouth open, shocked that anyone can just say something like that openly, especially to someone whose in the age group of the people the old lady just mentioned, and expect to be taken seriously. It's not even a comment worth laughing at; it's the walking definition of a statement that makes one cringe so hard that one wonders what they even did to deserve hearing it in the first place.
Nami's momentarily silent as she processes her statement, a part of her refusing to believe that she heard it at all, but the line the old lady then says next confirms that Nami's ears hadn't failed her beforehand;
"Don't you think so, too?"
The cheerful, earnest way she looks at Nami after asking that makes her shift uncomfortably; by now, she can tell that the old woman's comment on adolescence being one of the best times of a person's life is a sincere one, (and that, well, one she actually dared to say to someone like Nami), and that right now, the old lady's asking her a question to which she probably hopes that Nami give a reassuring response.
As she contemplates on what to say, Nami tries to resist a sneer from forming on her face. The old lady might not have meant anything inherently bad by her question, but at the end of the day, it's not one that Nami can agree with. And it's lame of the woman to put Nami on the spot for something like this, where her giving a negative response will only make the eighteen-year old year old look like a rude, inconsiderate person. Respecting her elders is one thing, but to agree with a statement that irritates her to the core whenever she sees it spread around, that's… that's another.
"I don't agree with that, Ma'am," Nami replies firmly, although she's careful not to let her voice rise, "Everyone's life is different. For some people, it is, but for others, it isn't. It's not right to generalize stuff like that."
Nami expects the old lady to be caught off-guard by her adamant reply, like most elders are when given a reality check, but strangely enough, the woman doesn't even blink. She just continues looking at Nami with that same jovial expression on her face, completely unfazed by the redhead's words.
"You'll understand when you're older," the lady says fondly, and Nami bristles inwardly. I haven't heard that line before!
"I'm sure I will," Nami agrees, sarcasm dripping from her voice, but the woman doesn't seem to take note of it, her smile unmoving. It kind of creeps Nami out, but she realizes that now's a good chance to end the conversation as ever.
Before the lady can get the next word, Nami blurts, "In any case, I'm in a hurry right now," She pauses, and flashes the old woman a forced smile, "Thanks for help earlier on."
xx
As Nami exits the store, she frowns upon noticing that it's already dark out. Had she really been in there for that long? Ugh, great. She just had to get distracted by those teenagers and that woman.
Taking a sigh, she then starts to walk leisurely in the direction of her home. The grocery store isn't admittedly far away from where she lives; about fifteen minutes by foot; but it still would have been nice if she could have saved herself the extra trip by just driving there. But, until she can learn how to drive, she doesn't really have another option. Besides, her psychiatrist did mention that exercising just thirty minutes every day does wonders for one's mental state, and seeing as it took her fifteen minutes to walk to the store and how it'll take her fifteen minutes to walk back, she supposes she's reaching her quota for the day.
As she paces in the direction of her home, the old lady's words ring in her head again;
"Teenage years are the best years of a person's life."
Nami can't help but feel a surge of annoyance as the memory resurfaces. She probably shouldn't get so agitated by what the lady said; she is a lot older than Nami, probably more experienced, wiser, and all… but… there's something about those words-or rather, line of thinking, that just leaves a bitter taste in Nami's mouth. She knows that the media is to blame for this, what with the constant array of exaggerated teenage romance novels on display and the sheer amount of high school movies being put out left and right, but what confuses her to no end is why.
She just doesn't know why adolescence is constantly romanticized anywhere she turns, and what makes it different from any other period in a person's life. Now, one can argue that this confusion within her arises from having started to partake in illegal activities since she was thirteen, and possibly due to having been living under circumstances that even the most intimidating criminals nowadays would find daunting, but Nami likes to think that this isn't the case. Even if she has been through a lot of circumstances that most people her age probably haven't, she doesn't think that's the reason why she's so out of the loop.
Then again… I wonder, just how many teenagers have gone through the shit I did growing up? Hm…
She sighed. There was probably no point in getting worked up over it; at the enlightening age of eighteen, it's fair to say that her adolescence is over for the most part, and now all that's in store for her is the wonders of adulthood. And while some other people her age might be bothered by this fact, Nami herself can honestly say that she couldn't care less. Her teenage years might've not been the greatest out there, but she doubts she missed much.
… Well, except maybe a proper education, a crimeless household, and a legal guardian that didn't beat the shit out of you on a regular basis, but those are small things to ask for, she figures.
All in all, her past doesn't matter anymore, and she intends to keep it that way.
Don't even lie. You haven't gotten completely over everything that's happened.
Realizing that she's allowing her mind to start tearing itself apart again, she closes her eyes and tries hard to think about something else. Ruminating won't do you any good. Remember what Mrs. Ross said.
… Okay, so maybe she did miss out on a couple things, but why does it matter? What's done is done. Her past currently has no effect on her future. She now has a chance to start over and actually start focusing on the things she cares about.
Oh, really? Like what, for example?
She flinches inwardly, realizing her self-deprecating inner voice actually has a point. What does she actually care about, anyway? Now that she thinks about it, she has a longer list of things she doesn't care about.
She frowns at the thought. Well, I care about Nojiko…
Her inner snorts. Yeah, well, Nojiko's not a thing, last time I checked.
I… well… I care about my ability to be good at the things I'm told to do.
First of all, you don't even seem to care all that much about that anymore because your concentration is garbage all the time, and second of all, how many times how that 'ability' of yours screwed you over when you were still working under that piece of shit?
She hates it when her inner is right. And she hates it even more when it keeps prying relentlessly.
Which begs the question; what are even your hopes, dreams and goals for the future?
….
She inhales.
You know I don't know.
And with that her self-critical voice is silenced, but she can hardly breathe a sigh of relief. The thing is, she already knows herself fairly well; and she knows enough to say that she hasn't a clue what goals she has for the future. Any hope or dream she might have had as a child was shattered upon her parents' deaths and upon receiving that bastard as her legal guardian, who exploited her talents for his own gain, and made sure that her only priority in life should be keeping herself and her sister alive by doing everything he said. Otherwise, she wouldn't like what happened next.
For a while, her goals were escaping his tyranny, or contacting help while he wasn't looking. Those endeavors ended in failure every time, and he made sure the both of them paid the price for stepping out of line.
After that, she made her goal obeying everything he told her to do. She rationalized in her head that if she did everything he told her, none of them would have to get hurt. That help would come eventually. So she complied to his requests, forcing herself not to question if the things she was doing were morally wrong or not. She did it so that she and her sister could survive, she rationalized. It was the only way she could stomach doing the sick things he made her do.
It took her three and a half years to accept the fact that help was probably never going to come.
And it was sad, but help did eventually come- but it came too late.
By the time she and her sister were liberated from his terror, Nami was already broken. The years of abuse, physical and verbal, had taken its toll on her. Had the police officers come a day earlier, perhaps part of her could be salvaged, but they were too late. The day prior to their arrival, the bastard had soiled her completely, broke her to the core, and Nami was certain that there was nothing left for her after that. After what he did to her that day, dying became her only objective. And oh, it was a goal of hers that lasted more than a year. During that period of time, she tried everything in her power to make it a reality.
Thankfully, though, it didn't. Nojiko never let her.
It took her a year and a half to recover from all of that and become, well, a somewhat normal member of society again, she supposes. Mentally, she probably still has issues, but she's certainly a lot better than before. She's adopted a somewhat more sane way of looking at things and handling problems in general; aside from occasional relapses and… the nightmares, she guesses that her only problem is that she kind of just feels a bunch of boredom and apathy most of the time.
… And annoyance, to be honest.
She knows that her therapist Mrs. Ross told her what she can do to alleviate such feelings of monotony; by giving herself certain goals to focus on and by trying hard to accomplish them. She even suggested that Nami should make new friends at high school she'll be starting tomorrow, that that'll be a great goal to keep her mind occupied and at bay, but… somehow that idea makes Nami want to straight up laugh.
From what Nami can tell, from having watched and read numerous TV shows and magazines on the subject, and from having witnessed today's fiasco with the dysfunctional couple, people her age, at least in this day and era, are…probably idiots.
She sighs as she approaches her home. While a part of her hopes she isn't true, she really doesn't know what to expect for tomorrow. Truthfully, it would probably do her good to make some friends, but… in the event that her past ends up catching up to her, she didn't want her friends to be there when it did. Or God forbid, they get involved in it.
xx
"I'm home!"
Nami is greeted by silence as she closes the door to her apartment. She blinks; is Nojiko asleep, or something? At this hour? She checks her cellphone. Eight o'clock. She sighs. It's not like she can blame her sister for hitting the sheets, though. Nami's dead tired by all the walking and overthinking that truth be told, she just wants to get into bed so she can sleep as well.
After putting what she bought into the fridge, she takes off her shoes, goes into her bedroom, collapses onto her bed, and just lets herself fall asleep.
xx
"Arlong! Please, stop this!"
A bloodcurdling cry escapes Nami's mouth as said man's foot collides against her left rib, sending her mind whirling, the sickening crunch it produced being the only letting her know that he's successfully fractured it. She sobs, curling up into a fetal position.
"Oh, begging, now are we?" He snarls, a sadistic grin on his face. He grabs her by the neck and shoves her against the wall. She gasps for breath.
"Come on, Nami…" he whispers against her ear. "You can't expect me to stop. Not after everything you've done."
"I'm sorry," she murmurs, "I shouldn't have fought back. I should have listened to you. I should have known that you're the one calling the shots around here."
"Yes, you should have," he purrs, strengthening his grasp on her neck, causing her to gag, "But it's too late for that now."
Cold, mocking laughter reverberates throughout the entire room, and Nami feels herself starting lose consciousness.
"Just… please… no more…" she whispers, voice barely audible, but loud enough for the person in question to hear.
"We both know you brought this out upon yourself, Nami."
xx
Nami jolts upward from her bed, panic and adrenaline rushing through her whole body, and it takes her a moment to breathe before bringing herself back to reality.
Upon coming to her senses, she bites her lip and swallows hard in a desperate attempt to prevent herself from crying. While Nami's grown accustomed to having nightmares every other night for some time now, that certainly doesn't make them any less terrifying from when they first started to plague her mind on a regular basis. If anything, she swears that they're getting even more terrifying and morbid with each passing night.
She takes in a deep, hearty breath and tucks a strand of hair that falls from her bangs behind one of her ears. She knows that in spite of all of the fear she feels, guilt dominates her more than anything as she comes to terms with the realization that everything that has happened so far is a result of her own actions.
She grips her left shoulder tightly as she's reminded of what lies under the sleeve of her shirt. It makes her grit her teeth, the thought that what lay beneath it would forever be engraved into her skin and serve as a constant reminder of all the atrocities she had committed in the past.
She knows that she has no else to blame but herself, though, and that knowledge is what hurts the most.
Who is she kidding? She hasn't gotten over what happened, not in the slightest.
She falls back onto her bed and shuts her eyes.
Another night where she tries not to cry herself to sleep.
A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter! There was supposed to be more, but I've decided to include that into the next chapter so this one doesn't be too long.
Also, I know a lot of things are probably confusing, for now. Nami's past will be elaborated in detail as the story progresses, for now, any mentions of her past are just to tease you guys and give you glimpses of what it might have been like. This is just a prologue of some sorts; it's essential to the plot, but it doesn't go into too much detail about things. Things should get more interesting next chapter.
I will try to update on a monthly basis, but I can't say for sure since most of the time I'm overloaded with work and school and stuff. That being said, whenever I have lovely reviewers being there for me to support me, that usually increases the update speed as well! So, if you have the time, I would definitely appreciate it if you guys let me know your thoughts on this chapter!