luffy had never been a normal child.
makino knows that, after all, he came from garp's family. garp is already pretty deranged himself and adds that children, in general, are unpredictable and unique in their ways.
but as for luffy, she can differentiate from a strange, child behaviour – to uneasy, surreal behaviour.
one time, he would speak normally, though not as jovial as he used to be. but then, he trailed off mid-sentence and seemed to be lost in deep thought. or sometimes not at all, she just can't grasp over what's on his mind all the time.
no one could understand him, not even his own family.
she still tried her best to accompany him, even if running the bar was already tiring and occupied most of her time.
step by step, luffy seemed to improve on listening to makino and not trailing off, but his – again, unorthodox behaviour is still there.
she wouldn't deny that making luffy listen attentively, even if the progress is slow, is making her chest swell with pride.
"garp-san, please. it's been months, you should really spend more time with your grandson."
makino pleaded to vice-admiral garp, both standing outside the bar just around dusk. luffy was busy picking grass in the background, while makino tried to convince garp to spare his time for his family.
unfortunately, garp only gave an ignorant response, and all makino could do was watch him moving closer to the shore where she could see the marine ship docked. she glanced at luffy, who was also looking in the same direction.
he stopped his twiddling activities and stared at what she assumed was garp, in such a sorrowful look. as if he has forgiven him for action much worse than leaving your own family alone. she couldn't understand, but yet again, has she understood luffy to begin with?
"makino," luffy said, in a very quiet voice.
she caught his words, doubtful at first if luffy had even spoken because of the very low volume.
"yes?" she stopped washing the empty glass.
"..." he doesn't say anything.
and makino waited. she doesn't continue wiping the glass, patiently waiting on what luffy will say. this happened before – luffy calling people's names, but never continued what he was about to say. most become impatient and ask him to get on with it, to which he continues being silent and left alone.
she learned all she needed to do is wait.
"...," luffy still doesn't say anything, fiddling with the glass that was filled with orange juice, feet swaying. he finally stared at makino, all his actions stopped.
"what time is it?" he asked.
"it's around 19, luffy," she answered.
he stared at his glass, "why did grandpa leave?"
"he has marine duties to do," she answered.
"will he come back?" he asked.
"he will, in a few months from now," she answered.
"makino?" he said.
"yes?" she answered.
"grandpa wasn't there."
grandpa wasn't there.
garp wasn't there?
she's sure of it, she even has some villagers for alibi, that garp was there at the village.
even luffy stared at him – or at least, that's what she thought.
she recalled the scene, the looks on luffy's face, viewing the shore with such a melancholic look. she assumed he was staring at garp, but...
what if luffy doesn't even perceive him?
she shook her head.
"luffy, garp was there. even the villagers interacted with him," she said.
"...is that so." he replied rather monotously.
she decided to not inquire about it.
"it's getting late, would you like to go to bed?"
he nodded. she took the now empty glass and washed it. luffy is already going upstairs in the background. she took some bath equipment for her to wash luffy later.
"slingshot?"
"mmh," he nodded his head.
another odd request. last time, he asked for swords and maps. now, a slingshot.
well, perhaps not so odd. a lot of children like to play with slingshots.
"some villagers may have it. if you ask nicely, you can borrow one and play with it," she advised.
he thanked her and ran off immediately.
it goes on like that. every once in a while, he would request an item. sometimes specific, sometimes not.
after slingshot, he asked for a cigarette. makino quickly denied the request and so he asked for a can instead.
for some reason, he painted the can black, and with a yellow brush, he painted the number three.
after a can, he asked for a hat. a red top hat, to which she invited luffy to make the hat with her together. she saw luffy make another extra hat, a blue round hat with a belt lock on each side, and a round hole at the front. he equipped the red top hat that he had already sewed a white cross on with the blue round hat, and it became quite a cute combination of said two hats.
after the hat, he asked for history books. he went to the library, and after borrowing a lot of them, he returned and asked once more.
"orange shade sunglasses."
getting fashionable, aren't we?
"cola? i heard of it before, but it's really rare for any soda to be shipped here," she replied.
luffy stared down, disappointed. there was nothing she could do about it, but she still felt slightly guilty.
"then... can i have another pair of sunglasses? a black, upside-down triangular-shaped," he described, making a triangle shape with his fingers.
"another pair of sunglasses, luffy?"
"yeah," he only nodded.
well, it isn't too hard. "alright, let's make it together, okay? since most sunglasses are circular shaped, we have to change the shape ourselves."
they both spend quite some time making the glasses, and when it's finished luffy looked so happy. she felt happy too. every time she sees his smiling, happy face, the time is well-spent.
later that day, she found luffy tinkering and inventing some items wearing the sunglasses. one of them looks like a mini ship, an odd figure equipped at the front.
"no, luffy, i do not know how to play the violin. perhaps someone here can play it? i don't know anyone who could, or let alone, have any violin..."
"...oh."
one of the requests she could not fulfill, and neither with outside help could. luffy didn't have any alternatives, and he only walked away.
makino could not do anything about it.
the next few days, when she entered luffy's room, she was surprised to see a lot of papers scrambled all over the place. within a glance, it looks like sheet music. but upon closer inspection, it looks too sloppy to be one, but the resemblance is still there.
perhaps he's trying to make sheet music purely from his memory.
she then examined the room once more and found luffy laying on the bed.
"wake up, luffy. it's morning already, did you stay up late all night?" she shook luffy's body gently.
she only heard a grumble, and she chuckled. it only takes a short whisper of the magic word to wake luffy up immediately.
"food's ready."
he shot up, eyes blinking and drool still escaping from his lips. he wiped them off and stared at makino. "food?"
"yes, it's downstairs," she smiled. luffy gets off the bed and proceeds to go where the food is.
this time, it's his last request. he did not ask for any more requests since this one, and she found herself missing all the activities and odd requests.
"a shirt, more of a dress though? it has a very specific pattern and style," he tried his best on explaining.
he tried to sketch it, and makino stared at the design in amazement.
sure, it's sloppy and luffy's drawing skill is not so great – but the concept overall, if done properly, would look very beautiful. the sleeves are long, and a sash was in the middle of the cloth. she had never seen this type of design, but she would love to help luffy on making it real.
"this looks very pretty. what do you call it?" she asked.
"um... something called... kimono?"
"kimono, huh... a pretty name for a pretty outfit," she smiled gently.
it took them quite a few days to get all the details done. both are inexperienced, at least in luffy's case. makino can sew clothes, but this type of design is foreign and a first time for her, so it was quite challenging. but she had a fun time with it.
the pattern on the cloth is unique too, he specifically requested it. a diagonal square, with another line inside and a dot in the middle. it was an orange coloured fabric and said square was black and white. either way, it's not too bad.
in the end, they manage to make the end product look very good. he wore it happily and skipped around. makino chuckled as she watched him from afar.
one time, makino found luffy wearing all the items he requested at once. she thought it was silly, but didn't say anything about it. though, she's confused by the solemn expression he has been giving once in a while. it's often to find luffy in a mood like this, but this time he looked like he was having a lot of thought. a conflict between himself, it seemed.
"luffy, are you alright?" makino asked. luffy looked at makino, one of his eyes covered by the blue-red hat they made the other day.
"...i think," he replied.
"you seem upset about something. care to talk about it?" she said,
"... i, well," he started. "please don't laugh at me."
makino paused for a moment, "i won't laugh at you, luffy. you can tell me anything," she spoke softly.
"sometimes, i had a feeling that, i..." he trailed off once again. but not because of the usual manner, but because he's trying to think of a word. "i just had a very weird feeling. my mind has been really off a lot of times, like... i'm supposed to know something, someone? somewhere?"
he struggled. makino listened attentively, processing it. she didn't say anything, which prompted luffy to continue.
"i want to know. i've been thinking too much, head occupied with a lot of thoughts about it," he said.
she didn't know how she came to this conclusion, but she blurted it out. "were the items you requested related to it?"
luffy looked at her, surprised that she got it right and was able to piece it together for him. "yes."
makino wasn't ready for that answer. with a sigh, she replied. "perhaps one day, you will find it out. i believe in you, luffy."
he didn't say anything, but he smiled.
a few months have passed, and luffy doesn't talk or discuss the strange feeling.
it was until one day when he was casually hanging out in the bar when someone yelled.
"pirates! pirates are coming!"
makino was worried about the pirates at first, but when she saw luffy, the whole pirate thing was thrown out of the window for her.
his eyes went comically wide, mouth agape, and movement completely still.
"luffy..?"
before she reached out her hand to him, he jumped off the stool and quickly ran outside. makino tried to catch up to him, but when she went outside the bar, she didn't see luffy anymore.
it was silent, minus the wind sweeping some leaves in the air.
"luffy!" she shouted.
no response, she looked around her, hoping for any figure of luffy running towards her. but it was all hills and clouds, as well as the ocean and the huge intimidating pirate docking up.
she was nervous and anxious. the pirates can be a threat to the village, as well as luffy running off somewhere. what if luffy got hurt by the pirates?
"luffy!" she shouted again, desperate.
again, no response.
her knee fell to the ground, words stuck in her throat. some fragments of all the memories of luffy spending time with her appeared in her mind, as she tried to yell his name once more.
but all it came out was a cry.
what do you expect from practice work written at 1 am? i have no preparation or premise for this one! it's freestyle writing at this point!