Dear readers, first of all, I want to give a big thank you to everyone who left a review on this story, you guys are the best!

But unfortunately, me and some of my writer friends have noticed the amount of reviews in the One Piece fandom is decreasing more and more. This is a very bad development, especially since there weren't that many reviews to begin with. (For example, the last chapter of this story had about a hundred people who read it, but only 3 left a review.) So I would like to ask you all to take a little time to read the following message (also found on my profile page):

[ THE IMPORTANCE OF REVIEWING

To all readers of fanfiction, in whatever fandom you are, I want to give you an advise. After finishing a story or chapter, ALWAYS LEAVE A REVIEW.

"Why?" I hear you ask. Good question. I'll try to give a very short answer; Because there is nothing worse to a writer, than receiving total silence. Imagine publishing a book and once it leaves the press, you never hear anything about it again. Books are sold, but you don't get invited to events, interviews, etc. and no one ever tells you what they think about your book. You see someone reading your book, they finish it, and they just walk past you without saying a word. The only thing you can think of at that moment, is probably that they thought it sucked. That's the only reason why they wouldn't say anything right? To spare your feelings.
Well, that is exactly how fanfiction writers feel when they see in their stats that quite some people read it, but no one left a comment.

"But I don't know what to say." Let me tell you: a review doesn't have to be a ten page essay. Just words like "I liked this chapter!" or "Thank you for writing this story!" can be enough. The author will know that you care about their story and that you liked it. Of course, reviews saying what specific things they liked, what emotions the reader felt, what theories they have, etc. are even better, but if you can't put your thought into words like that, a short review is enough. Also, if the author wants to (and I do) you can give some constructive criticism as well, if you want, by saying things like 'I liked this, but you could maybe improve that by doing such and such'.

"But doesn't it say enough when I favorite and/or follow a story?" It says more than doing nothing, and it's a really great start if you do that, but it still doesn't say much to a writer. Some people just mark them as favorite or following to either order the stories they've read, or because they maybe kinda liked it enough to follow, or hope the story will get better in time. It's like having a book on your bookshelf, but the author never knows if you read everything, or what you really thought about it.

"But I don't have time to review" Please don't use this excuse, if you respect the author of a story even a little bit. An author can spend hours or days or even weeks to work on a story or chapter. They write, edit, let it beta, edit again, hundreds to often thousands of words for you. All so you can read their stories for free.The least you can do to let them know you value their stories, is leave a short review, which again, only needs to be 3 words. 3 words are written and posted in half a minute. If you can read thousands of words, you surely have time to write down a few yourself. If you want to write a longer review that takes more time, you should just come back later, when you do have time.

"But my english is very bad!" Don't worry about that! We really don't expect a review to be in perfect english. If you can't find the right words in english, just use google translate, that's understandable enough most of the time ;)

"Any tips on how to write a review?" If you want to write a little more than 'I liked it', I will give you this tip, it's what I usually do with stories/chapters that are longer than 1K words: keep a note on the side where you write your thoughts down as you read the story (feelings, things you liked, things that stood out to you, etc.). Afterwards, copy and past them all into a review (maybe edit them a little, if you think that's necessary - for example if your thought was 'AAAAHH!' you might want to specify at what moment exactly you thought that :P). This way you won't have to take a lot of time to write a review afterwards too.

If a writer doesn't get any, or just a few, reviews, they might think people don't care, and slow down on the updates, or stop updating altogether.

And one last thing, if you think a story already has quite some reviews, let me tell you: there is no such thing as enough reviews. Every review brightens the day of a fanfiction writer, and motivates them that much more to continue writing.

If you have any more questions about this, just shoot me a message, I won't bite. ]

That said, I want to thank Aerle for betaing again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 4

Penguin closed the door behind him and let Bepo off the leash so he could walk around the house freely. When he entered the living room, he saw his father sitting on the couch with his arms folded in front of his chest.

"Where did you come from?" Law asked in a tone that didn't predict much good.

Penguin tried to pretend he didn't know what his father probably would want to talk to him about. "I just took Bepo for a walk." He shrugged. "A long walk."

"Sit with me." Law's eyes went from Penguin to the couch in front of him, and back.

Penguin sighed, but sat down anyway, throwing his feet on the table. He didn't have to look at Law to know that action earned him another displeased look.

Still, Law didn't comment on it. "So, you want to tell me what happened today?"

Penguin shrugged again. "Nothing." But when Law stayed silent, waiting for the truth, Penguin knew he had to come clean. "I got into a stupid fight with this guy. It was nothing."

"What guy? What did he do? Why did you fight?"

"Geez, I told you, it was nothing." Penguin rolled his eyes, but removed his feet from the table – it wasn't as much fun when his father didn't complain about it. "It was just a guy in math class that insulted me, so I insulted him back. Give it a rest."

Law looked a little more relaxed already, but wasn't done yet. "Depends, will it happen again?"

"No, dad," Penguin answered, because he knew that was what Law wanted to hear anyway. He stood up, heading towards his room.

"You promise?" Law wanted to know.

"Yeah, sure," Penguin said as he walked up the stairs. The sound of his bedroom door falling shut behind him was the sign that he was definitely done talking about it.

Penguin entered the biology classroom and immediately noticed that Killer was already sitting at a table. A different one from last time, but since the bell had only just rung, there weren't many seats taken yet. That also included the one next to Killer. Penguin thought about sitting there for a brief moment, but then decided against it. It would probably be better if he wouldn't look for a fight today.

So he moved to the desk behind Killer and sat down there. He didn't know what it was about the guy, but he had to admit he was drawn to Killer. He could be an asshole, but Penguin had also seen his nice side; when Killer first complimented him on his drawings, and when he had met Bepo the other day. Penguin guessed the two different sides of him were what made him interested in Killer. Maybe.

When Penguin had unpacked his books, he spent the rest of the time, before the teacher started the class, on staring at Killer – he wouldn't know it anyway. His hair was actually looking soft, Penguin noticed. It made him wonder how he did that. That long wavy hair couldn't be easy to keep clean and untangled. Penguin's hands itched to grab a strand and feel if the hair was really as soft as it looked, but when he slightly stretched out his arm in Killer's direction, the teacher cleared his throat.

"Penguin, do I have your attention as well?"

Penguin pulled his hand back and straightened his back. "Yes, sir." But he didn't miss the curious look Killer cast over his shoulder for just a second.

It was Friday night and Killer was hanging with some friends in their regular pub. He wasn't sure it had been a good idea to come, since his friends were planning to 'get everyone laid', as they put it. Killer knew it was mostly big talk, as he was pretty sure his closest friends were still virgins, and they would be happy if they just kissed some girl. Still, Killer didn't look forward to getting caught up in the game of girl-hunting. He had, however, been persuaded by the fact that his favorite local band, the Hawkins Pirates, would perform in the pub this evening.

Wire knew some other guys at the pub, and one of them was old enough to get them all beer. So now they were all standing at a table, drinking beer, and checking out girls.

"That blonde is nice," Wire nodded into the direction of a girl that stood near the small stage, watching the band play. "She seems like your type, Heat."

Heat took some time to look at her. "Yeah, she looks cute," he agreed. "She doesn't really look like the type to listen to this kind of music, though."

"Well, go talk to her," Killer encouraged his friend. "That seems like a good subject to start a conversation."

Heat hesitated. "I don't know, man…"

"If you don't do it, I will," Gambia, one of Wire's friends, said.

Heat, who didn't seem to like the guy very much, took another gulp of his beer, before slamming the glass down on the table. "Fine." He slowly walked towards the girl, while the group at the table chuckled.

"So, what's your type?" the other guy – Killer remembered they called him Bart – asked.

Killer shrugged. "I don't have a type," he answered, and hoped that would end the conversation.

"Aww, come on, everyone has a type." Bart turned towards his friend. "What's his type, Wire?"

Wire narrowed his eyes as he looked at Killer. "I honestly don't know. I can't remember I've ever seen him with a girl…"

"Dude, how old are you?!" Gambia asked.

"I'm sixteen," Killer answered, and tried to come up with something before they could ask the next question. "I guess I just like the curvy kind of girls. You know, the kind with a bit of ass and nice breasts." He couldn't believe he just said that. Well, whatever, he did decide he had to step up his game.

"Who doesn't?" Bart snorted. "Anything else?" he asked, while fumbling with his septum ring.

Killer shrugged. "I'll just let you know if I see someone I like, okay?"

"When you see someone," Wire corrected him. "You're not gonna leave without even having tried."

"She has a boyfriend," Heat reported about the girl, as he returned to the group.

"Too bad, man." Killer patted him on the back.

"Wow, pink power coming in!" Gambia announced, and the group turned to face the door.

"Oh, it's Perona and Bonney, from our school," Wire said.

"Which one's the lolita one? She's cute!" Gambia seemed almost ready to jump her.

"No!" Killer, Wire, and Heat called in union.

"She's awful. She makes you feel terrible about yourself," Heat explained.

Killer nodded. "And Heat should know, he dated her."

However, Gambia had already waved at them, and the girls were headed towards their group. "She can't be that bad."

"Hey, but Killer, don't you like Bonney?" Wire asked. "She's got nice curves," he said in a teasing tone, poking his friend in the ribs.

Killer's first instinct was to protest, but he changed his mind just in time. "She's… not bad, I guess." Yes, that was the right answer for a straight guy.

"Hi guys, how's it going?" Bonney asked when the two girls reached them. "Oh, you've got beer, get us some!"

"Why would we?" Bart asked, even if it didn't seem like he expected an answer.

Bonney put a fake smile on her face. "Because we're nice company and we'll stay if we get beer." Her smile dropped. "Who are you anyway?"

Bart stared at her for a while, and Killer didn't expect him to answer anymore, when he did after all. "I'm Bartelomeo, and this is my man Gambia."

Killer had completely missed the fact that Bart was apparently not his full name.

"And you must be Perona," Gambia said to the other girl.

She pouted. "How un-cute! Have you been gossiping about me?"

"Yes," answered Bartelomeo.

"Not at all!" said Gambia at the same time. He shot his friend a deadly look. "They just told us who you were, that's all. Let me get you a beer."

"That'd be great!" Bonney said, a real smile returning to her face. "And get some snacks too!" she yelled after him when Gambia made his way to the bar.

They drank some beer, listened to music, talked a bit, and drank some more beer. Killer needed the alcohol, as he had decided today was the day he would not be gay. And Wire was right, Bonney wasn't bad. She ate a lot, but she was a nice girl. And after some talking he learned she was a fan of the Hawkins Pirates as well, so she and Killer talked a lot about them. At the end they even agreed to go to their next gig in town together.

After finishing his third beer, Killer decided he was feeling bold enough to take the next step. He carefully draped his arm around Bonney's shoulder. She didn't seem to mind, and a soon after, she even wrapped her arm around his waist as well.

Killer was very aware of the fact that Bonney was coming closer and closer to him, and he knew it would be only a matter of time before she'd try to kiss him. He really needed another beer for that. But when he looked around, he saw that Gambia had gone missing, and so had Perona. Killer mentally shook his head. The guy just didn't want to listen to them, did he? Unfortunately, that meant there was no one left old enough to buy beer.

"Why don't we go stand some closer to the stage?" Bonney asked.

Killer only heard 'away from the others' in her question, but still agreed. He had to give this a try. Maybe a girl wouldn't be so bad, especially when it was Bonney.

The Hawkins Pirates just started their slowest and most romantic song when the two of them had found a spot, and Bonney immediately began dancing with him. Killer tried to relax and enjoy the moment, and was glad he had the past few beers to help him with the nerves. They were still there, but he could push them aside, at least a little. When he noticed she leaned in again, he leaned in too. Before he realized what he was doing, they were kissing. Her lips were soft and felt nice against his own, and it felt good enough that he tried using his tongue. Bonney immediately granted him access.

It was not bad. Not at all. Even if Killer didn't have any material to compare it to, he thought Bonney was a good kisser. It felt nice. But it also felt wrong. Especially when he opened his eyes again and was reminded of the fact that it was a girl, he had been kissing with. Well, since it had been pretty nice, maybe he could get used to the fact that she was a girl. He wasn't that opposed to the idea…

"You're not a bad kisser," Bonney commented.

Killer chuckled a little nervously. "You're pretty good yourself."

They danced some more, and after a while they went back to their friends, who all made whooping sounds when they arrived, holding hands.

Killer chuckled, embarrassed. "Shut up."

Gambia and Perona had returned to the group as well, but they didn't seem to have worked out, seeing as there was a big gap between the two. Bonney took it upon herself to fill that gap, and left Killer at his friend's side.

Said friends poked him in the ribs. "And you didn't want to come!" Wire said.

Killer chuckled again. "Yeah, ironic, isn't it?" Ironic indeed, he thought, because at the end of the night, the gay guy of the group was the only one who ended up with a girl.

He got home a little too late, but Killer managed sneak in without his father noticing it. Lying in bed, he thought about what happened tonight. He'd had his first kiss. Not that he thought his first kiss was more special than his tenth, but still, he had kissed. A week ago he'd still thought he wouldn't have his first kiss while he was in high school, let alone with a girl. But at least now he could say he was dating a girl, so that should satisfy annoying family members and others wo asked those kind questions.

After a while, he finally fell asleep. But even then, he dreamed about the kiss. However, in his dream he was forced to kiss again and again. Finally, after what felt like a thousand kisses, he got to terms with it. When he did, he broke the kiss and opened his eyes. Only then he noticed the female features of Bonney's face had changed into male features, her long pink hair changed into short dark locks, and her characteristic green hat was replaced by a ridiculous cap. Killer saw there was something written on the cap, but he couldn't read it. Still, he didn't have to, he already knew what it said. There was only one person he knew who wore a cap with his name on it.

Killer smiled, as he knew everything was alright now.

TBC

(And don't forget to leave a review! ^^)