-Tangled Web-
A role-play/joint-fic by Digitaldreamer and Constable Remington
Chapter Nineteen: First Day
o.o Hooo-i! It looks like less people read than last time…or at least less reviewed…what happened? Was the last chapter so lacking in plot that no one wanted to review? That makes me sad…but I know you're all still reading, because the hits are the same as they always were.
Um…well, hopefully more of you will tell me what you think this time?
Aw, come on! We have CRYPTIC DREAM SEQUENCES!
…Oh fine, go read.
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The fog of dreams overtook the slumbering swordsman as he slipped into a deeper state of rest. He found himself opening his eyes to stare into a small, dusty room, bright with the golden rays of sunset's light streaming in. The room was illuminated, dust particles that floated in the air catching the light and reflecting it, as if the room was filled with thousands of tiny, dim fireflies. He sat cross-legged in the center of the room, his wrists balanced against his knee -- a meditation-style position he had learned in his youth. He cast calm eyes about -- this had been the training room he had learned swordsmanship from his sensei from when he had been just a boy. Why was he revisiting it now?
It seemed so silent, so dead, filled with a ringing sort of silence that could only come with a room of ages past. Zoro knew this place wasn't standing anymore -- his whole hometown had burned down -- so why...?
"Destati! Tendi la mano..." A soft voice sang, echoing through the small room in a surreal manner.
The owner of the voice sat across from Zoro, sitting in front of the open door with his lithe body framed by the sunsets light. He sat in a relaxed position, leaning back and propping himself up with his arms, legs sprawled out lazily in front of him. He wore a plain white yukata, though it hung off his small frame as it was a bit big on him. The boy's hair was quite a bit like Luffy's only a bit longer and far neater.
Really, he would have seemed rather ordinary, save for the shimmering pair of wings folded upon his back.
" E'giunta l'ora, destati!"
Suddenly noticing the boy as Zoro's eyes shot up, he stared at him. What was this kid doing, invading his memories? Who was he? He looked like an angel...
"...Who are you?" Zoro asked softly, not defensive, just curious. The boy didn't seem to pose any threat or harm... but he looked so similar to a certain other black-haired teenager...
The boy paused in his singing, glancing back at the swordsman with a laugh. His face couldn't be seen due to the light. "You know what? I don't remember." He laughed again, the jovial sound filling the room.
Taken aback by this, Zoro felt warmth fill him at the boy's laughter. "Don't remember," he said softly. "Any reason why you're in my dreams?"
The boy turned back to the sunset, kicking his legs idly in the air and lightly fluttering his wings. "Funny thing. I don't quite remember that either. All I can remember is it was for something important."
"Well," Zoro suggested sharply, beginning to grow irritated, "maybe you should remember, if it's important..."
The boy laughed again. "No need to get annoyed, Zoro. I'll remember eventually," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "It doesn't come into play now, anyway…" he trailed off, beginning to sing again. "Le porte Serrano schiuse!"
Frowning a little, Zoro lifted a hand suddenly to brush fingers against the boy's feathers.
The boy immediately burst into a fit of giggles, wings extending and flapping a few times. "Don't do that, it tickles! If you tickle me I'm not gonna tell you the part I do remember!"
A breeze rushed past Zoro's face and he pulled his hand away a bit, tilting his head some. "All right," he said, smiling a little. "I won't tickle you."
The boy giggled again, covering his mouth with his hands for a moment before he went back to his usual position. He seemed to have calmed down, gaining a more mysterious and serene air about him. "Something is supposed to happen tomorrow. Something big. Tomorrow you will gain something very important to you, and that will set everything into motion. No matter what happens, you must hold on to that one thing. No matter how hard things get, that is what will pull you through it."
He turned to gaze at Zoro, though his eyes couldn't really be seen as his bangs had fallen in the way. "Hard times are coming. Everything is going to change soon. Just when you think you understand everything, something else is there to add to this odd picture. Just when you think you've got things under control, you discover another thread. It's a tangled web, and it just goes on and on and on. While you're in this chaos, it's hard to understand who and what to believe…so don't think about it. Follow what your heart tells you, and don't lose sight of it."
Watching the angel with gentle curiosity, Zoro felt his stomach churning. Something big tomorrow? He tried to think more on this, but he felt himself slipping away.
"Wait-- come back--"
And then the sunlight was streaming in through his windows, birds were chirping outside, and Zoro was undeniably awake.
"Fuck," he muttered. And what a nice word it was to start the day with.
There was a loud knock on Zoro's door, followed by an even louder voice. "Zoro, did you forget to set your alarm again? Stop screwing the kid and get up, you can't let your gay relationship make him late for his first day of school!" Nami called through the door.
Luffy remained curled up in bed, still softly snoring with an angelic smile on his face.
Grumbling to himself, Zoro sat up in bed, looking around the room, memories of the dream still in his mind. He shook them out of his head, before turning to look down at Luffy. Brushing a hand through the young boy's hair, Zoro gently shook his shoulder.
"C'mon, Luffy, time to get up and get ready for school."
The boy's eyes opened and he blinked blearily up at the swordsman. "…school?" he repeated.
"Did you forget?" Zoro yawned. "It's your first day. You have to get up. C'mon." He stood from the bed, stretching. "I'm gonna grab a shower, all right?"
Luffy's eyes widened. "Oh yeah!" he yelped, hopping out of bed. "Today's my first day of school! Yippee!" he cheered. Then he frowned. "You're taking a shower? Can I take one real quick after you? I don't wanna smell icky on my first day!" He hadn't bathed since Friday, after all.
"Course you can," Zoro murmured, grabbing up his towel and uniform. "I'll just be a minute." And with that, he stepped from the room.
Luffy stood there for a moment, frowning, before heading over to where his clothes were stashed and grabbing the bag they had gotten just yesterday. He reached into it and pulled out the folded up uniform jacket, holding it out in front of him.
So today was the first day he'd be wearing it, huh?
Luffy smiled, setting the jacket on the bed along with a uniform shirt and pants. He stared down at the uniform for a moment, grinning at it.
His very own school uniform. He was really going to go to school! Sure, he had probably gone to school before, but since he didn't remember it now, this really did feel like his very first day at school ever. Though it did give him a sort of sense of déjà vu…
"Yosha! My first day of school!"
"Oi, Luffy! Stop jumping around, you're gonna get your uniform all wrinkled!"
"But I'm so excited, 'niichan!"
Laughter. "Yeah, yeah, I know you are."
Luffy beamed, glancing down at the bags with his clothes once more. Then he frowned, spotting a bag that hadn't been there before. He grabbed it, emptying it onto the bed. Pencils, a binder, a planner, note books, erasers, and folders scattered onto the rumpled comforter, along with a large black backpack.
Where had these come from?
Within a few moments, Zoro had walked back into the room, slinging his towel across the chair, hair damp. "All right," he said. Blinking towards the supplies, he tilted his head. "Oh..." He had forgotten to get those... "Where'd you get all that stuff?"
Luffy shrugged, looking over the notebooks and beaming at the designs on them. " I don't know, I just found a bag over there in the corner with my stuff…hee hee, this one had pirate flags on it, that's so cool!"
"...Weird." He shrugged a bit. "Well, at least you'll be prepared."
The boy nodded, stuffing the things into the bag. "Yup!" After doing so he grabbed his uniform. "I'm gonna go get a shower now!" he said cheerfully, running out of the room.
"I'll be downstairs," Zoro called after him, moving to grab his own schoolbag and walk out the door and down the hallway, boots clomping against the stairs.
Bento boxes sat on the table -- Sanji must have made them before he had gone into work. Zoro frowned. The cook was irritating as hell, but at least he made good food.
A blue one with peacocks painted on it was Vivi's; Nami's a striking orange with fruit decorations. Both of those were missing, however, as the girls must have gone in early for clubs. The table had Usopp's brown box with strange, abstract decorations on it, sitting beside Zoro's plain black and another one, as well -- Sanji's old box, a deep blue decorated in swimming fish. There was a note on top--
"Luffy can use this one for now," it read, "But you should buy him a new one, Marimo."
Zoro rolled his eyes, crumpling the note and tossing it away.
Luffy came bounding down the stairs a few minutes later, book bag slung over his shoulder. He was now clad in his uniform, though it looked a bit sloppy with his shirt un-tucked and his jacket left open and his shoe laces untied. And then there was the tie…oh, the tie. Could it even be called a tie anymore?
Luffy skidded to a stop in the kitchen, panting. "I got a shower!" he announced.
Ussop stared at him from the table, where he was just finishing his cereal. "…Good for you," he managed to get out without cracking up at the sight of the boy.
"Luffy..." Zoro frowned as he looked up. "Get over here." Grabbing the boy's arm, he tugged Luffy over, his hands working quickly to pull at Luffy's waistline and tuck the shirt in before buttoning the jacket and doing the tie. "There. You have to look neat, or they'll get pissy." He gestured towards the bento box. "There's your lunch. Don't eat it until lunch time." He paused. "Juniors and Seniors eat together, so if you wait for me, I'll eat with you."
Luffy tugged on his tie, now that it was on correctly it was kind of uncomfortable. However, once the mention of lunch came he completely forgot about the tie and immediately reached out to snatch the bento box.
"Squeee, fishies!" he chirped, already making as if to open the lunch box. He paused at Zoro's next comment however, frowning. On one hand, he could eat the yummy food now. On the other hand, he could do the horrible thing known as waiting and eat with Zoro…
…hmmm…
He'd have to give this one a bit more thought.
The boy zipped open his backpack, placing the bento box inside as if it were some kind of holy object.
Ussop blinked, pointing at Luffy. "You're kidding me. He's a junior?"
Luffy glanced at Ussop grinning and nodding. "Yup!"
"Wow…how'd you pass the test?" Ussop asked, eyes wide.
Luffy just shrugged.
They sat there in awkward silence for a moment.
"Cool! That means you'll be in my classes!" Ussop cheered, jumping out of his seat.
"YAAAAY!" Luffy cheered, doing an odd sort of dance. After placing his bowl in the sink Ussop slung an arm around Luffy's shoulder and joined him.
…It was as if they had found their fellow five-year old or something.
Watching the two, Zoro just sighed, placing his own box into his backpack and moving towards the door. "C'mon, Luffy, let's go," he called.
"But I didn't get any food!" Luffy whined. He then quickly glanced around the kitchen, rushing over to a cabinet and pulling out two plastic baggies. He poured Cap'n Crunch into both of them and closed them, then ran back to the door.
"Bye Ussop, see you at school!" he called behind him.
Zoro moved outside, to his motorcycle yet again. "School's too far to walk," he explained as he climbed on. "Hold on tight, all right?"
Luffy nodded, grinning widely as he hopped onto the bike behind Zoro. He wrapped his arms around the swordsman's waist as usual, still grinning widely. He loved this motorcycle. Yes he did. But not as much as Zoro.
…did he just think that?
The boy shrugged, letting the thought slide. Now wasn't the time to think about that, it was his first day of school and he was riding a motorcycle!
Oblivious to Luffy's thoughts, Zoro revved up the engine and began the quick trip to school.
Zoro's motorcycle had become somewhat of a legend around the high school, but never had the students seen Zoro ride in with another person holding tightly to his waist. This garnered more stares than usual, which Zoro tried to ignore as he parked and slid from the motorcycle.
Luffy slid off of the motorcycle beside Zoro, gazing around. Wow…the school seemed even better when there were students here! They sure seemed friendly…a lot of them were staring at them, that was a good thing right?
It took mere moments for a group of girls to rush over, like flies attracted to some sweet, rotting thing.
The blonde one was apparently the leader as she stepped forward, glancing down her nose at Luffy. "So he's the lucky guy hmmm?" she drawled, and a few girls giggled.
Zoro stared at her. He didn't really know this girl very well, but he had seen Nami with her and her friends. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked rather defensively.
She laughed, and all the other girls laughed right along with her. "I think Zoro-kun has a boyfriend!" one with dark brown hair said teasingly.
Luffy blinked in confusion. Boyfriend? Like as in a friend who was a boy?
One with short, layered black hair spoke up. "The Zoro-kun? The one that doesn't socialize with anyone?"
The blonde smiled, reaching down to trace a manicured nail lightly along Luffy's jaw. "…I suppose he's not too bad for someone who just got picked up off the street…"
Freaking out, Zoro grabbed Luffy's shoulder, yanking him away from the touch. Goddamnit, did it have to happen here, too!
"Luffy's my friend," he said shortly, "and my roommate. Just give it up already." His eyes were dark and daring, and he glared softly towards the group, as if daring them to try and touch Luffy again.
Luffy just sort of stared at them, confused. What was going on here? It kind of reminded him of Nami's teasing…only a bit meaner.
The blonde held up her hands. "My my, touchy touchy. Bit possessive aren't you?" she said with a smile.
The one with the dark brown hair gave a nervous giggle. "We were just playing Zoro-kun, no need to get all hissy over it."
"Yeah, we were just playing!" the black-haired one repeated.
However, instead of taking Zoro's glare as a hint to leave, the girls stayed. "So, what's the kids name?" the blonde asked, twirling a lock of gold around her finger.
Luffy grinned. "Monkey D. Luffy!"
The girls all simultaneously rose eyebrows.
"Weird name," the black-haired girl remarked. "Can you imagine shouting that during sex?"
Zoro's hands clenched and he glared at them.
"Luffy, we don't need to listen to this," he stated, growling. "C'mon, let's go."
"Okay!" Luffy said, still grinning. He waved at the girls. "Bye weird girls!" he said cheerfully.
The girls all just giggled and began talking amongst themselves.
Pulling Luffy inside the school, Zoro moved towards the front desk. The secretary from the day before was there, and she looked up at him questioningly.
"...We're here to get his schedule," he stated. "Monkey D. Luffy?"
"...Luffy...?" the woman asked, absently. "Monkey D. Luffy..."
Zoro sighed. This again? He could see the damn paper on the desk. Reaching over, Zoro grabbed it.
"Thanks," he replied caustically, handing the paper to Luffy.
Luffy grabbed the schedule and stared at it blankly for a few moments. What was a "Geometry?" Oh well, he'd figure it out.
"Thanks secretary lady!" he chirped as he continued to glance over the paper. "…Maybe I should go to my…locker…thing first?" he suggested, looking to Zoro with an unsure look on his face.
Zoro nodded, glancing towards the paper. "All right, let's go find it."
"Okie dokie!" Luffy said cheerfully, following Zoro.
They paraded around the hallways for awhile, in search for Luffy's locker. They eventually found it rather far into the school, in the wing where most seniors were. There were several lockers that were empty, due to drop-outs, last minute school changes, or other reasons.
Luffy glanced along the rows, searching for his number. "One-oh-one. One-oh-one…oh, where is it?" he muttered, folding his arms and tapping his foot.
"Maybe you should try looking after one hundred and before one-oh-two," a deep, smirking voice came, followed by the loud slamming of a locker. Zoro looked up.
"Kizuma," he said shortly, with barely a nod of his head.
A tall, muscular senior stood before the two, his long, long brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and his startling blue eyes staring down at them with a look of disgust. His uniform was rumpled and dirty, tattered in some places, but he didn't mind. The man leaned against the metal lockers, crossing his arms.
"Roronoa," he returned haughtily, examining his fingernails. "Didn't take you as the kind to be so caring and gentle towards underclassmen. Showing him where his locker is? Che. You'll be wiping his nose next."
Zoro glared sharply at the man, snatching the schedule from Luffy's hands. He said nothing, only quickly opening the locker.
Luffy stared up at Kizuma with a look of curiosity at first, though his eyes narrowed a bit as he began to talk about Zoro. However, since the swordsman hadn't said anything he didn't either, smiling and nodding at Zoro in thanks as he shifting his bag off of his back and crammed it into the tiny locker. He then unzipped it and peered over Zoro's arm at his schedule.
He grinned. "Geometry first, eh?" he asked, pulling all of his notebooks out of his bag and glancing over them. He seemed a bit like a little kid, getting all excited over his new school supplies just because they were new. After a few moments he held up one with a dark blue oriental dragon on it, grinning. "This one's perfect!" he declared.
Annoyed at being ignored, Kizuma reached forward suddenly, grabbing the folder from Luffy's hands. Zoro's hand came sharply out suddenly, snatching Kizuma's wrist. The two stared each other down in heated silence. A few in the halls were stopped to watch.
"You wanna let go of Luffy's folder?" Zoro asked lowly.
"You wanna make me?" Kizuma contested, but the bell rang and he sneered. "I don't have time for this right now." He let the folder fall to the floor, turning and heading down the hall. "I'll see you two later."
Zoro sighed, reaching down to pick the folder up and hand it to Luffy.
Luffy took the folder along with his schedule, staring after Kizuma. "Jeez…he's not very nice," he commented, eyebrows rising as he shut the locker door. He glanced down at his schedule. "Room two-oh-three," he chirped, beginning to walk down the hallway. Sure he didn't know where he was supposed to go exactly, but he was pretty sure room two-oh-three wasn't going to be around the senior hallway.
"Is he always like that?" he asked Zoro as he continued to walk.
"Yes," Zoro replied promptly, hurriedly following him. Luffy's class wasn't too far from his own, so he'd be able to show him the right hall to take. "He's just an asshole. Ignore him when you see him and just try to get away."
Luffy made a face. Well, that wasn't very exciting at all! He supposed he shouldn't be going around getting into fights though; Zoro had worked hard enough to get him into this school. He wasn't going to screw things up by getting into trouble on his first day.
So no arguing and no fighting then.
"Okay!" Luffy nodded, still smiling. No need to let the scary guy with the long hair ruin his first day, after all!
They moved down the main hall together, through the heavy onslaught of students. Zoro's hand quickly found Luffy's as he pulled him along, trying to hang onto him so as not to lose the boy in the crowd. Finally, they reached the end of the building. The hallway split into two directions.
"Two hundreds down there," Zoro said, pointing with his free hand towards the left hallway. "I'll be down the other one."
Luffy nodded, glancing down the hallway. It was so big and it had so many people! They were all there, some talking and laughing and others making their way to class…it was a bit overwhelming for a person who had never been to a place like this. Or if he had, he didn't remember it.
He looked back at Zoro, his hand tightening around the swordsman's for a moment. "All right! Thanks for showing me where it was!" The boy smiled, though one could easily tell he was a bit nervous. "I…guess I'll see you at lunch then?"
"Yeah." Zoro smiled, letting his hand fall from Luffy's. "I'll just... meet you right at your locker." He awkwardly reached up, ruffling Luffy's hair, before the bell rang again. "Shit, we're late--" He turned to rush down the hall. "See you!"
Luffy yelped at the sound of the bell, turning to tear down the hallway. "Right, see you at lunch!" He called back, eyes darting back and forth as he searched for his class. Unfortunately for him he ended up running right past it, and entered several minutes later.
Ussop glanced up from his doodle as the door opened, then slapped his forehead. "Late on his first day…" he muttered, shaking his head.
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To be continued…
My oh my…Luffy's not off to a very good start, is he? Nope, not at all.
Um…review time!
Mai Hayami: o.O Constable and I have a writing pattern? Um…okay…did we follow it, then? As for the school stuff…well, you may be right, you may not be right. We'll see!
The Plushie Bandit: Um…fluff is good…yes…fluff is very good…eh, we'll see about that scene.
poxmaker: I know! ESPN should have ninja's. As for the random sex scene in Reloaded, that's my opinion. I personally felt it was completely pointless, it didn't really fit in with the rest of the movie and served no purpose for the story. They could have just left it out and everything would have been still awesome. As for Zoro's present, it's probably a bit mature for Luffy, not to mention a bit early in their relationship, they haven't even known each other for a week.
Illusion Of A Lunatic: XD I sure hope Nami gives me a few of those pictures too.
Icy Sapphire15: Grrr…I need the sixth Harry Potter book so I can read it's kickass-ness!
MeraNova: Well, actually Chopper is already in the fic, a few chapters from now. I guarantee how he shows up will be better than him just showing up on a t-shirt! Maybe I will still include Shea…I'm not making any promises, though.
Griffingurl: Indeed, poor Zoro and his having to explain of the Birds and the Bees.
Xeora: Squeee, fanart! Thank you so much! I can't wait to see it!
AlibisDragon: Yes…can Luffy be secretive? We'll see!
YuugiLover3: Well, I'm glad you're happy about Chopper being in the fic. And that's great how you were watching LoTR while reading TW. That's so great. XD And I want Miss Valentine's devil fruit power too! And you discovered my livejournal? Um…wow, I'm special. O.o I'll be sure to hunt you down on there sometime! And yay, cookies and plushies!
Hasuko: Nah, their weekend wasn't extra long, just seemed that way since the chapters are so spread out or whatever…
koku-kirin: Well, I would read your fic, but it seems to not be there when I go to your author page…
WhiteTigeress666:Indeed, the first day of school brings doom…
Raikou Ikazuchi: o.o Jeez, you write LONG reviews and I love you for it. Hmmm…Pirates of the Caribbean is actually a really great idea…we should use that. And I'm glad that you're happy that we brought in the Matrix? O.o Poor Luffy... indeed one day Zoro will help him understand. XD And Ace is definitely one of the coolest characters around, we love the Narcoleptic Fireboy. As for Chaser…heh, we'll see. Wow, dub! Sanji literally broke your eardrum? Ow…hope it grows back soon!
Sofia: o.o We have a list of fans? Um…wow, that's news to me. Um…well, I updated! I hope that cured your hurting eyes!
Next Chapter: All Luffy wants is to at least try to not cause trouble on his first day of school, but Kizuma seems to have other plans.