Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or its characters! *Luffy rushes in*
Luffy: AARH! *runs around in circles*
SS: ...?
Luffy: I haven't done my physics homework!
SS: *blinks* You don't have any physics homework. *pause* Do you even know what physics is?
Luffy: *thinks hard* Ummm… Not quite sure… *sniffs the air* Is that food I smell? Must be lunchtime! *walks away drooling*
SS: *slaps forehead*
Chapter 3 - School riot
The Going Merry drifted along with the waves slowly, almost reluctantly. Dawn was breaking. The first rays of sunlight peeked out from behind dark clouds.
On board, a young woman with bright orange hair stood, staring onwards and drumming her fingers on the ship's railing. It was Nami, and she felt very irritable.
"Good morning, Navigator-san," said an older woman, brimming with mature beauty, emerging from the bottom deck. "You're up very early this morning, aren't you?"
"Morning, Robin," she muttered without even looking back. Robin smiled, as she knew what was bothering her. "Our captain-san isn't back yet, is he?"
"What the hell is taking him so long?" Nami grumbled. "He's been gone since yesterday. We can't drift here forever, but we can't sail on without a captain, either." She turned to face Robin, who had made herself comfortable sitting in her usual folding chair with a good book and a coffee in hand. "What do we do, Robin? We're running low on food supplies and, judging by the clouds, there's a large storm coming tomorrow evening."
"Why not anchor the ship at the nearest island?" Robin suggested, tucking a strand of her dark shoulder-length hair behind her ears. "Then we can stock up on some food and take shelter in the ship without worrying about being blown away by the nasty winds."
"That's what I was thinking," Nami frowned. "But, for some reason I feel uneasy about stopping."
"So, we leave Captain-san behind?"
"No, we can't do that." Nami sighed. "Oh, well. It can't be helped. We'll stop as soon as we spot an island." She stretched off and gave a yawn. Then she started towards the lounge to get herself a drink, but she stopped when something caught her eye. From afar, she could see a small dome shape in the middle of the ocean.
An island!
"LAND-HO!" she shouted as loudly as possible. "Get up, everyone! We're changing course!"
"Yes, Nami-swaaan!" a loved-up voice responded, followed by crashes and shouts, the sounds that signified the boys were getting up. Pleased, Nami smiled and calculated the distance.
"We should get there about nightfall," she said, squinting to see the tiny shape ahead.
"If Captain-san doesn't come back today, we can just wait for him at that island," said Robin reassuringly. But, her expression changed slightly as the memory of the strange light flashed in her mind. "I wonder what that light was, though," she thought out loud. "I've never seen anything like it. I do hope Captain-san is alright."
Nami frowned. "That idiot. Where is he?"
X x X x X x X x X
"Lynn, wake up!"
Lynn turned in her sleep, frowning. She didn't want to wake up. The events the day before had tired her out. But, her best friend's shouts continued to ring in her ears, whether she liked it or not.
Finally, she let out an exasperated groan and sat up. "What?" she grumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "It's Sunday for goodness sake, so stop acting like my mum." It was only then she realised she was the only person in the room. Her friend's voice came from downstairs.
"Lynn! It's already 12:30!"
She jumped out of bed straight away. 12:30? She didn't think it would be that late! She quickly changed out of her pajamas and slipped into a T-shirt and jeans. Then, she rushed downstairs to the kitchen where Miriam and Luffy sat, playing cards at the table.
"About time," smiled the blonde girl. "We've been waiting for you!"
"Want some breakfast?" Luffy flicked a thumb at a box of cereal and half a carton of milk. "We left some for you."
"Thanks," said Lynn, before bending down beside Miriam and whispering in her ear. "How much has he eaten? Be honest." Miriam glanced up at her friend and smiled innocently. "That doesn't work, Miriam. Spill."
Miriam sighed. "All right. He ate a hell of a lot. I almost had to tie him up before he ate the fridge as well."
"Oh, great. So, the fridge is basically empty, then." Lynn rolled her eyes. "Looks I'm going to have to go shopping again today." She glared at Luffy. "How do you eat so much and not gain any weight?"
Luffy shrugged.
Lynn walked over to the sink and picked up a bowl, in which she poured her cereal. "We've got a lot to do today to prepare for tomorrow," she announced. Both Miriam and Luffy put down their cards and listened. "First, after I quickly finish brea-Um… brunch, we'll go out and get more fridge supplies. Then…" She gave Luffy a quick look up and down. "We need to get this guy some new clothes. He can't go around school tomorrow wearing that; it's too eye catching. Maybe a polo-shirt or something will be more suitable."
Steady nodding from the small audience was the reply to her statement.
"After that, Miriam and I need to revise for the quiz so Luffy can watch a movie or something, alright?"
More nodding. Lynn smiled. "Glad we got that sorted." She poured milk into the bowl. "Now, let's get moving!"
X x X x X x X x X
"No, Luffy, you can't!" Lynn pulled tightly on the back of his shirt.
The dark haired boy pouted. It was the first time he'd seen something so fast and noisy, and all he wanted was to ride one of them.
"No," repeated Lynn firmly. "You can't just go and sit on someone's car."
Miriam laughed at the two. Luffy's childish acts could be quite amusing to watch.
Luffy, being the oldest and tallest of the trio, didn't act at all as mature as he should be. It was obvious Lynn was the most overpowering, even though she was the shortest, and she was having trouble keeping this curious boy from running wild. The modern world is very interesting to someone from an age of pirates, after all!
The three teenagers walked through town centre carrying bags of food, on their way home. Luffy pouted.
"But, they're so cool…"
"No," was the definite and final answer. Lynn wasn't usually a bossy or stern character, but there were reasons to her strictness. First of all, she definitely didn't want to stir up unwanted trouble, and secondly, they had been shopping all day and it was normal for her to snap at people when she was tired.
"Fine," huffed Luffy, walking off in a different direction.
"Hey, where are you going?" Miriam called after him.
"Toilet!" was the response. The girls laughed. For a moment they thought he was going to run away or something. The public toilet was just a small distance down the street.
"Okay, we'll wait here," Lynn shouted. "Don't get lost!"
"I won't! That's something Zoro would do!"
X x X x X x X x X
"Ah-CHOO!" A thundering sneeze caused the green-haired swordsman to stir from his sleep. It was late afternoon and everyone aboard the Merry was doing their own thing. For Zoro, that meant a long snooze after his earlier workouts.
"Someone must be talking about you Zoro!" Usopp chuckled, glancing up from the his experiment.
"Who the hell in their rightful mind would want to talk about that dumbass marimo?" sneered Sanji, who leant against the door to the ship lounge, having a smoke.
"Take your damn attitude and stick it up your ass, shitty cook," Zoro snarled and fell asleep before the blond chef could say anything else.
"Honestly," said Nami, approaching from the other side of the ship. "Do you two do anything else apart from arguing?"
"Mellorine!" With a love-struck cry Sanji was immediately circling the navigator. "Would you like anything at all, Nami-swan?"
"Hmm... A glass of water would be nice," she said tiredly, rubbing her temples. "I'm getting a bit of a head ache."
"But, of course! I am gladly at your service! The worn-out Nami-swan is so beautiful!" Then he turned to Robin, who hadn't moved from her seat since morning. "And, you? Robin-chwan?"
"No, I'm fine, thanks," the archaeologist smiled, and Sanji disappeared into the kitchen leaving a trail of 'mellorine' cries. He was back seconds later, producing Nami's water with a flourish.
"Thank you," said Nami softly. She took a sip and let the cooling water clear her mind.
"Dinner will ready soon!" he announced and twirled his way back into the kitchen.
"No sign of captain-san yet, huh?" Robin looked at Nami, who had gotten more and more stressed as the day progressed, partly because they were sailing captain-less, partly because the changing winds and dark clouds made her uneasy.
Nami shook her head.
"I'm starting to think something might have happened..." she frowned.
"Don't worry," said Usopp. "That guy is insanely strong; he can look after himself."
"Strong, yes, but not a lot of brain," Nami sighed. She looked up at the island - not far up ahead now after a day of sailing - and she could see that half the island was covered in forestation. That was good, as it meant they could dock near the forest and not alarm the citizens.
"Right, guys," Nami announced loudly. "After dinner, we drop anchor and settle for an early night in. Tomorrow morning we can go to town and get supplies." There were murmurings of agreement throughout the ship.
"Nami-swaaan! Robin-chaaan!" Sanji burst onto deck. "Dinner is served."
Chattering arose as the crew piled into the lounge for food, but as dinner progressed, each one of them could feel that the atmosphere was different; that something - or, in this case, someone - was missing. A certain someone, actually, who would usually cause havoc trying to steal everyone else's food and make everyone laugh with his ridiculous statements and table manners. Nobody said a word about it, but deep down they all knew it.
They missed their captain like hell.
X x X x X x X x X
"Remind me again why he needs to be my relative?" Lynn frowned at her friend whilst straightening her school polo-shirt.
Sunday had gone like a breeze and it was already Monday morning, the dreaded day they were going to take Luffy to see the horrors of school. She wasn't completely fond of the plan that she and Miriam came up with to cover up Luffy's identity.
"Well, you gotta admit, out of the two of us, he looks more like you," Miriam said, pushing her in front of a mirror.
Lynn stared in the mirror at both their reflections and sighed. It was true.
She looked at Miriam's long, dirty-blonde hair, deep blue eyes and fair complexion and then at her own medium length black hair and brown eyes.
'Oh, why me...?' she thought as she pulled on a pair of jeans.
Technically, the school did have a uniform code, just no one really followed it, and the teachers couldn't care less; as long as it was appropriate and not too wild, why couldn't the children just wear what they want?
Lynn sighed as she pulled a jacket over her bare arms. "I'm going to check on Luffy," she said, pulling open her bedroom door and walking down the carpeted hall.
Her house consisted of four bedrooms, but two of the rooms were currently being used as a guest room and a study. She could hear lots of noise coming from the guest room down the hall where Luffy was staying.
"What are you doing, Luffy?" she demanded, swinging the door wide open. Luffy stopped bouncing on the bed and jumped off.
"That bed is extremely bouncy!" he grinned. "I haven't slept in a proper bed in ages! Hammocks just aren't bouncy, you know."
Lynn looked him up and down. He was dressed in a dark blue polo shirt similar to her own and was wearing black trousers which she spent ages persuading him not to roll up the previous day. He looked ready to go! Just one thing was bothering her...
"Luffy," she said gently, knowing this would be hard for him, "could you maybe not wear the straw hat today?"
Luffy's eyes widened at the suggestion. He took it off his head and looked at it longingly. Lynn felt sorry for him, as she knew how much the hat meant to him. She thought over it and said, "Fine, why don't you just strap it round your neck, but just not wear it on your head?" Luffy's face lit up. "I'm sure it'll work out somehow."
"Great!" he grinned and took the thin strap on the hat which Nami had sewn on for him beforehand and hung it around his neck. "Now, let's go!"
Lynn laughed. The hat was a strange touch to his current outfit, but at least it wasn't really as eye-catching. "A word of warning though, Luffy," she told him sternly. "Remember to follow these rules. One, do not mention to anyone along the lines of pirates, treasure, the Grand Line, and so on. Two, don't use your rubber powers in front of anyone. In fact, don't use them at all. Three, don't touch everything you see. And, four, when we're introducing you, don't say a word."
She noticed Luffy had nodded after everything she said, and she smiled. "Right, then! We can go!"
They made their way down stairs and after a quick breakfast, stopped at the front door to put on shoes.
That's when something struck her. Lynn turned to Luffy.
"One more thing," she said, only just remembering this important information. "Don't pick the lumps sticking on the undersides of tables, chairs or railings. They're not mysterious free sweets."
Luffy nodded yet again, and, with that, the three of them step out onto the brightly shone street.
X x X x X x X x X
They arrived at school early so they could speak to their form tutor. Miss Rose was sitting in the classroom marking some work when the trio burst into the classroom. Surprised, the brown haired woman removed her glasses and placed down her pen.
"Can I help you?" she asked, noticing Luffy's unfamiliar face. "You're pretty early."
"Umm... well..." Lynn had some trouble getting her words out. Miss Rose was one of the nicest people she'd ever met and usually had no problem confiding in her for problems, but today...
"We have something we'd like your permission for, miss," said Miriam, nudging her friend in the ribs. Miss Rose glanced at the both of them.
"Well... um... I've got this distant relative from... America..." said Lynn, reciting the words they had practiced yesterday. "And, he's never been to school before..."
"Never been to school?" Miss Rose seemed surprised.
"Oh, well..." Lynn quickly improvised. "He's from Texas and worked on a farm. Note the straw hat." She nodded her head towards Luffy's hat. Miss Rose relaxed slightly and Lynn followed the script again. "His parents recently died so he's coming to stay with us until his fostering procedures are complete."
"Oh, you poor thing!" Miss Rose's expression was filled with pity. "Your parents passed away! I'm so sorry!" Luffy, clueless of what's going on since the girls hadn't told him, just grinned in response.
"And," Lynn continued, "my parents are away on a business trip so we can't leave him home on his own. And, so, we were wondering if you could write a note allowing him to sit with us in lessons. I don't think he could do the work, though, since he hasn't had a proper education."
"Yes, yes, no problem," agreed Miss Rose straight away. "How old is he?"
"He's sixteen, just like us," said Miriam. That was a lie, because he was actually a year older.
Miss Rose nodded. "I'll write you a note to your class teachers for registration and introduce him to the class."
"Oh, that's fine; you really don't need to..."
"Thank you for your help, Miss Rose," Miriam cut Lynn off. "We'll see you in registration."
And, with that she shoved both Lynn and Luffy out of the room.
"Why did you cut me off?" Lynn protested. "She's going to introduce him to the class!"
"She might as well," shrugged Miriam. "Then we won't have this situation where everyone crowds around us asking about him, giving him the chance of letting something slip."
Lynn lowered her head in defeat. "My life is over..."
X x X x X x X x X
"Y11, attention, please!" Miss Rose's voice cut short the chattering and laughter in the form room. "We have a new pupil joining us today!" She looked straight at Luffy.
Lynn stood up, hauling him with her to the front of the room. Whispering voices echoed in her ear as she walked him up the side of the isle. "His name is..." Miss Rose paused and leant over to the two teenagers. "What's your name?" she whispered.
"Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy announced. Giggles aroused from the class room. Lynn could make out some girls' whispers.
"My, he's rather cute!"
"I'll say!"
"That's such an exotic name!"
"I know! It's so hot!
Lynn shifted on her feet. "You can just call him Luffy."
Miss Rose beamed. "Luffy is a distant relative of Lynn," she introduced. "He's just arrived from Texas, in America. This is the first time he's been in a school, so, please, everyone, give him a warm welcome!"
Luffy grinned at the enthusiastic claps. "Nice to meet you!" Quite a few girls in the class squealed when he spoke.
However, not everyone was so keen.
"Ha! What an idiot," a voice snorted from the back of the room. Lots of people turn in their seat but most don't, as it was obvious it them who it was. Cain sat at the very latest desk with his feet up on his friend's chair. Luffy turned to look at him.
He was broad and of a sturdy build and stared at Luffy with his small, dark eyes. He had no hair on his shiny scalp, which gave him a dangerous feeling. "Hey, you," he called up to the front of class. "What does the 'D' stand for? 'Dork'?"
His mates laughed.
"That's not nice," frowned Miss Rose. Luffy only smirked at the comment.
"And, what's with the gay hat?" Cain wasn't giving up. Luffy's smile faded at that point. He gazed at the tough looking boy, who stared back triumphantly. "What's wrong? Upset because I insulted your precious hat? Whatcha gonna do? Go crying back to your 'mommy'?"
"That's quite enough!" Miss Rose shouted. "Not another word from you, hear me?" She turned to Luffy, who continued to glare at him. "I'm sorry. Ignore him, will you hon'?"
Luffy didn't reply. Cain smirked at the back of the room, knowing he had hit a soft spot. Lynn and Luffy returned to their seats as Miss Rose gave Cain a meaningful look, which he rolled his eyes at.
"You okay?" Lynn whispered to Luffy as they sat down.
"I don't like him," he said simply.
"That jerk, no one does." Lynn glared over at Cain, who still smirked away.
"You know," said Luffy, pulling up his hat and placing it on his head, "if I hadn't promised not to use my powers today," he pulled it down until it covered his eyes, "I would have punched that smirk off his face from the front of the class." He sighed and slid down his seat slightly as Miss Rose began to make some announcements.
X x X x X x X x X
"So 'x' is equal to...?" Mr. Brown looked at Lynn.
"Um... minus four," she answered.
Mr. Brown smiled as he wrote her correct answer on the white board under the equation.
She looked the clock. Only fifteen minutes till the end of the lesson. Then she gazed over at Luffy, who was now asleep, his straw hat covering his face and muffling his soft snores. She smiled and continued with her work.
The maths lesson had gone quite fast. Lynn wasn't a super swot, but she was quite intelligent and enjoyed doing some sums. She was glad she was clever, though, because Cain and his mates weren't so smart, so for most of her lessons they were in different classes.
Miriam groaned at her maths book. She had made a mistake. Again. She usually sat beside Lynn, allowing her to get necessary help from her friend but today was sitting on the other side of Luffy. It was her idea to keep Luffy sandwiched between them by pulling up another desk as opposed to the usual twin desks in order to keep things under control. She regretted it now, though, as she found it was a disadvantage to her.
RING RING.
The bell rang for the start of break and Miriam dropped her pen in relief.
Luffy woke up with a start on hearing the piercing ringing.
"That's a harsh way of waking someone up," muttered Luffy, rubbing his eyes, but then he paused. "But, I prefer it to being chucked off the ship by Nami. She knows I can't swim!"
Both Lynn and Miriam laughed. "I know algebra is boring but you can't just sleep through the whole lesson," Miriam said.
"Did you have a nice nap, then, Mr. Luffy?" Mr. Brown leant over his desk and raised an eyebrow at him. Luffy yawned.
"Yes, I did, thank you."
Mr. Brown laughed as both girls nudged him from each side. "Don't worry; I know this is too hard for you since you've never been to school, so as long as you don't disrupt the lesson, you can sleep all you want!" Luffy grinned in response and Mr. Brown laughed again. "My, you're a strange one!"
"Thank you, Mr. Brown," smiled Lynn as she stood up, hauling Luffy with her. "Have a nice break!" Mr. Brown waved them off and they exited the maths room, carrying their books.
"I don't understand why we have to keep changing rooms," said Luffy, looking around the corridor.
"Neither do I!" Lynn laughed as they make their way back to their form room to put away books in to their lockers. As they entered the room, however, a small group of girls, including her friend Jess, start towards them.
"Look, look!" one of them pointed. "That's him! I told you he was really cute!"
Luffy blinked in surprise.
"Wow! He really is!" They swarmed over and surrounded him. "What's your name?"
"Er... Luffy," he answered uncertainly. The boys on the other side of the class room gave a jealous glance.
"It's so exotic, isn't it?"
"Do you like England?"
"What's Texas like?"
"You straw hat is so cool!"
Luffy smiled at the last comment.
"He smiled at me!"
"No, he smiled at me!"
"He's even cuter when he smiles!"
"Oh, wow! I want him in our form!"
Luffy looked over at Lynn and Miriam with an expression that read, 'I'm scared! Save me!'
"Looks like his fans aren't going to leave him alone," Lynn laughed. "He's quite popular."
"…and he's getting freaked out," Miriam observed them with amusement.
Luffy sent another SOS signal. Lynn decided to help him out and began to walk over but was shoved out of the way as a tall, bulky figure entered the room.
"What's so great about a freak with a hideous hat?" Cain sneered, towering over Luffy. Compared to him, Luffy was somewhat small. The girls began to scatter in fear.
"Shut up, you jerk!" said Lynn, coming to his defence. No one else spoke, but it was obvious everyone agreed with her. Apart from Cain, that is.
"Oh." Cain noticed the petite girl behind him and sneered even more. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" He began to walk towards her threateningly. She started to cower slightly in his massive shadow.
"Oi, baldy, don't bring others into this." Luffy's voice caused Cain to grit his teeth in anger.
"Who do you think you're calling 'baldy'!" he screamed at him as he spun around.
"You," came the simple answer. Cain boiled over with fury as others in the room began to snigger. He grabbed Luffy by the front of his polo shirt.
"You think you're so great, eh? What's so great about you and your damn straw hat?"
Luffy shoved his hand away. "What's so great about yourself? You don't even have any hair." Lynn couldn't help but give a giggle, which she muffled behind her hand.
"I swear," Cain growled, cracking his knuckles, "I'm going to beat the hell out of you if you come out with anymore of those wise-cracks."
"I was being serious the whole time." Some snorts of laughter arouse in the classroom.
"ARH!" With a furious grunt, Cain threw a punch which Luffy easily dodged. Cain fell over, unable to control his enormous weight. Luffy burst out laughing.
"You're rather funny!"
"You got lucky that time!" Cain screamed. "I'm going to kill you!"
Luffy just laughed again.
"You! Cain! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mr. Nelson, the head teacher, stood at the doorway, scowling at the fuming teenager. "Don't you dare start hitting people in school." He glanced over at Luffy who, in his eyes, was the victim. "Are you alright, son?"
Luffy just smiled and nodded. The bell began to ring for the start of lessons and Cain reluctantly followed him out of the room.
"This isn't over…" he growled to Luffy as he disappeared from sight. A moment of silence fell over the room before everyone burst into laughter.
"Good one, Luffy!" a boy shouted from across the room. "It's been a while since someone stood up to that jerk!"
"You sure gave him a run for his money!"
"Oh, wow you're so brave!" a girl squealed.
"He said he's going to get you back. I'm scared," whimpered another.
Luffy walked over to Lynn and Miriam, still grinning. "I thought you said you didn't like him?" asked Lynn.
Luffy shrugged, as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "Don't worry! He's just talk. He couldn't hurt me even if he tried, anyway!"
Lynn knew this was true, but she felt uneasy. Cain usually stuck to just verbal abuse, but when someone really pissed him off, he could get mean. Sure, he couldn't beat Luffy in combat, but she knew Cain didn't play by the rules.
"Oh, well," she thought with a smile. "Luffy doesn't even worry, why should I? It'll work out somehow!"
X x X x X x X x X
When lunchtime came around, both Lynn and Miriam dreaded taking Luffy into the cafeteria. Lynn gave Luffy a strict lecture about what he absolutely should not do before leading him up to queue.
Luffy sniffed the aroma of food in the air and almost started drooling.
"Luffy, remember what I said?" Lynn asked him for the hundredth time.
"Uh-huh," nodded Luffy. "Don't snatch other peoples' food, don't scoff it like a pig, don't ask for more food than you're allowed and don't eat the juice carton."
'Looks like he remembered everything,' thought Lynn. 'But, will he actually do it?' She doubted it. But, there wasn't any turning back, as it was their turn to be served.
She walked forward.
"Can I have lasagna, please," Lynn said to the dinner lady. "And, can he have the same?" She flicked a thumb at Luffy, who was in the queue behind her.
The dinner lady smiled and produced two servings on separate plates. "Vegetables?"
"None for me, but everything for him, please." Lynn then leant in and whispered. "He's an absolute pig! Can you give him a tiny bit extra?"
The dinner lady laughed at Luffy, whose tongue was literally hanging from his mouth. "Of course! He's a new kid, isn't he? Your friend?"
"Distant relative," she said and took her plate and cutlery from the amused woman. Luffy took his plate, too, and managed to copy Lynn's action of putting it on his tray without spilling the overfilled contents. Lynn then took pieces of fruit for both of them.
"Oh, yum!" he drooled, and Lynn poked him before he could start digging in on the spot.
They made their way into the bustling dining hall and Lynn makes a quick scan before noticing Miriam waving.
"Here!" she called over the noisy chattering. "I saved you two seats!"
Walking over, Lynn saw the table was crowded with girls, at least six or seven of them. To specific, the Luffy admirers.
"Oh, boy," she muttered, setting her tray down. "You sure this is a good idea?"
Miriam shrugged. "It's not like I could just tell them to go away."
Lynn suddenly realised the table had fallen silent. Everyone was watching Luffy scoff down his food with incredible speed. She noticed Luffy wasn't as messy as normal, which was great. It meant he'd actually listened to what she said! The silence continued as he finished the last of his food and wiped his mouth on a napkin lying on his tray; also surprising, as he usually just used his arm or didn't wipe altogether.
"Seconds?" Luffy looked at Lynn hopefully. Lynn glanced awkwardly at everyone else on the table. Some had their jaws hanging open and some had an expression torn between disgust and amusement.
"Here, you can have this. I'm not hungry," a blonde girl, Faye, from the other side of the table broke the silence and shoved her tray towards him. The food hadn't been touched.
"Oooh!" Luffy cried, gladly taking it. "Thank you!" He began stuffing his face again as they all burst into laughter.
"Ha! I've never seen someone at so fast or so much before!"
"So this is what an American is like!"
"This guy is really something!"
"Yeah, he's so unique!"
Lynn rolled her eyes, smiling. At least they weren't appalled by his behaviour! Slightly more at ease, she tucked into her lunch before Luffy could finish and steal hers.
X x X x X x X x X
Time passed, and it had been a while since the end of lunch. The bell for the end of lessons rang out.
"I totally failed that test!" groaned Lynn, walking out of the history room with her head in her hands.
"So have I..." Miriam mumbled following her. Only Luffy was smiling.
"That was a great nap!" he grinned. "It was very quiet!"
"You don't say..." grumbled Lynn. "We had a test."
"Who's Hitler, by the way?" asked Luffy curiously. He had remembered the name from looking over at Lynn's test paper.
"Oh, he's a grumpy old fart with a funny moustache who likes killing Jews," said Lynn.
Luffy laughed. "He sounds funny! I want him on our crew!"
Lynn sniggered at how ridiculous that sounded. "You can't! And, that's for two reasons! One, he's absolutely evil, and two, he's dead!"
Luffy looked disappointed, and Lynn laughed. That had certainly cheered her up after that horrid test. She didn't know half the answers of the sheet so had just scribbled down random answers. She didn't really care if she failed, since history was never her best subject anyway.
Checking her planner, Lynn slid her finger down her timetable. "Next, we have PE," she said, shutting it.
"What's a PE?" asked Luffy.
"Physical education," answered Lynn. "Like sports and stuff."
Luffy beamed. "Sounds fun!"
Lynn hesitated. She wasn't sure whether it was safe for Luffy to take part in PE. He could probably knock someone out without knowing. And, the worst thing was, this was the only lesson which Cain was in her class!
"What are we doing today?" she whispered to Miriam.
"I think it's trampolining."
Lynn groaned. "Oh, great."
Luffy on a trampoline? That, for some reason, did not sound good…
X x X x X x X x X
Lynn found some spare PE kit in the lost and found box for Luffy, and she shoved him into the boy's changing room to get changed. Although confused as to why, Luffy did as he was told and emerged, changed, a while later, only to find Lynn and Miriam had disappeared.
"Huh?" Luffy scratched his head. "Where did they go?" He noticed a door next to him and decided to check in there. "Oi, Lynn, are you in here?"
He stopped when he pushed open the doors. And, he stared. The group of half dressed girls stared back.
"AAAARGH!" someone screamed. "Pervert!"
Luffy had a feeling that he wasn't really welcome. Quickly exiting again, he found himself face to face with Lynn, who stood outside, now fully changed into her gym kit.
She didn't look all that happy.
"What the hell were you doing in the girls' changing room?" she demanded. Miriam sniggered behind her.
"Looking for you," he answered innocently. "Where did you go?"
"You took blooming ages to get changed, so we nipped to the loo! That illegal?"
He shrugged. "Don't think so…"
Sighing heavily, Lynn walked into the changing room, apologised to the startled girls, and came back out scowling. Then, she dragged him into the hall where the PE lesson took place. It was huge, at least ten meters tall, and Luffy found the fact that his voice echoed in the giant room very amusing.
"Helloooo!" he said loudly, listening for his echo, and was given a shove by Lynn.
"Stop being a dimwit," she said. Most of the class were already there and had set out the trampolines, ready to go. Mr. Stephens, the PE teacher approached them.
"Hello, there. You're new, aren't you?" He smiled at Luffy. After Lynn introduced him and handed over the note which Miss Rose had written for them, Mr. Stephens gave his permission. "Take care of him, okay?" he said to Lynn as Luffy scampered over to the nearest trampoline. Lynn nodded and followed him. She noticed, though, that Luffy had happened to pick the trampoline that Cain stood beside. She didn't like it, but there was nothing she could do.
Luffy clambered onto the trampoline and tried a small bounce. The springy mat gave him a lot of lift, and he found himself enjoying it. But, he was practically bouncing from one side to the other. The spotters around the trampoline laughed, and so did Mr. Stephens.
"Try to stay in the centre when you bounce," he pointed out, and Luffy nodded. He tried but just continued to bounce all over the place.
As soon as Mr. Stephens's attention shifted to another trampoline, Cain seized the moment and smirked. He took one of the major springs on Luffy's trampoline and unhooked it from the mat. The mat flicked up fiercely, the impact throwing Luffy high up into the air.
Everyone gasped. Luffy was confused and so grabbed onto the nearest thing he could find... which was the bars of lighting on the ceiling. Then, once he had hold of one, he flipped himself over onto a sitting position on it and looked down onto the watchers, who gawped up at him with their mouths open.
"Cool!" he exclaimed, not in the least worried.
"Stay calm!" shouted Mr. Stephens, freaking out himself. "We'll help you get down from there!"
"Down?" Luffy looked at Lynn. "Should I come down?"
Before Lynn could shout 'NO!' he stood up and crouched. It was a long way down, but he'd fallen from higher places before. He grinned.
"Right, I'm coming!" he called and jumped, to the horrors of the class and teacher. He fell rapidly and landed on the gym floor on his feet, sending up a huge cloud of dust with the impact. "Sorry about that!" he grinned to the teacher, and on seeing Luffy unhurt for some absurd reason, the poor man collapsed, both relieved and terrified.
Nobody rushed to save the unconscious teacher, for they were all too engaged gawping at this phenomenal survival.
Lynn groaned and covered her eyes. "How the hell am I going to explain this…?"
Next time: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's Zoro falling from the sky! Also, Lynn runs into an old enemy…
R&R please, and I'll see you soon!