Thank you mysterious guest reviewer! You made me finish the next chapter :)
Also: I have no experience whatsoever of football. Everything comes from google – please let me know if I've misunderstood something.
The large sign above the field made Nami roll her eyes. "'No Devil Fruit abilities allowed in game'. Does that really help to avoid cheating?"
Sanji gave a noncommittal grunt as he tightened his shoelaces. "Well, it's easy to spot some of the more obvious ones, so we just kick them out if they don't use a blocker. But the referee needs to keep an eye out for the sneakier ones."
"That explains how you've managed to keep the team Luffy-free at least," Nami mused, dropping her bag at a bench on the student's side of the field, next to the motley collection of duffel bags and rucksacks already assembled. "I can't imagine him having the patience to play without using his powers."
"It took about three minutes before he was banned for life," Sanji grinned. "Even the blocker didn't help. The referee today is old Tsuru, so there shouldn't be any cheating, she's as sharp as she's old."
The day was promising for a nice, respectful game. The sun was peeking out from behind some late autumn clouds and the air was crisp without verging into cold. As the game, or rather, the party following the game, was one of the highlights of the student year, there was already a respectable number of spectators gathering. The entrepreneurship club from the business school had even put up a popcorn-and-mulled-wine stand, where a queue was starting to form.
The teams were warming up on opposite sides of the field with various variations of stretching, jumping jacks and otherwise athletic behaviour. All very unusual for a university – everyone knew the student body was known for being predominantly nocturnal, feeling most comfortable in either their own rooms, wrapped up in differential equations, literature reviews and integrals, or occupying the student haunts. The faculty, on the other hand, generally tried to keep as far away from them as possible, hiding in deserted lecture rooms in the early morning hours and grumbling to their colleagues about the lack of moral fibre and discipline in today's youth.
It wasn't that they didn't understand what the students were tinkering with, dreaming up more intricate sets of code for a robot that fed you soup and other such attempts, but that they suspected the students didn't know it either. The students seemed to be delighted by such strange notions as 'the spoon hit me in the eye after ricocheting off the wall and that old bust of some dude with a wig, how cool' which made the faculty feel old and thus filled with something of an uncharitable disposition towards the students.
The yearly football match was one of the feeble attempts made by generations past to bring these opposing groups together in an air of sportsmanship and camaraderie. Most years, it only ended in a couple sprained ankles. It was really ages since someone had gotten seriously injured, several decades, yes indeed. Or multiple years, at the very least. The broken leg last year really didn't result from the game after all, it was really the party afterwards that had taken quite a wild turn, and you really can't fault a football match for that. Even if the broken bone was a result of two defenders clashing over a penalty shot.
"Oh no," Sanji suddenly groaned. "Brooks is playing."
The tall skeleton was one of the more peculiar oddities on campus. According to legend, he had woken up one day, hadn't noticed he was dead and then merrily kept on as usual, teaching the introductory courses in philosophy and history of music. Fifty years after the fact, all that remained was an animated skeleton with the most luxurious afro anyone had ever beheld.
He was also known as a mean midfielder, being both light on his feet and very creepy as he yo-ho-hoed his way towards an unsuspecting opponent. The discussion about if this counted as 'use of a Devil Fruit' (as forbidden by the rules, to Luffy's chagrin) had been retired as no-one could figure out if the fact that he was alive counted as fruit use and thus the bonny bag of bones was allowed to play.
Nami didn't play often enough to feel comfortable judging him or his playing, so she shrugged and bent down to tighten her laces.
"What are you doing on that side of the field?"
Nami looked up through her lashes, a sweet smile ready as she registered the surprised voice. "Why, hello doctor Trafalgar! I didn't know that you planned on attending the match." She did a double take. "And actually play? Colour me surprised indeed. That explains what things you'd do instead of watching a game."
The tall man, now clad in the faculty colours of quite creatively, yet horribly, clashing shades of blue, purple and pink as opposed to his usual shades of black, grey and the odd splotch of yellow, levelled a look at her. "Thought I'd see what kind of game you have in these parts of the world. But you didn't answer my question. Playing for the students? And here I thought you liked to see them lose."
Nami's smile turned into a full-fledged grin. "Oh, my! What a misunderstanding. I am a student, after all, I'm just working part-time. And I just said it's nice to see their faces when they lose, but I never specified whose." She fluttered her eyelashes innocently. "The students haven't lost to faculty in the last oh, twelve years or so, after all. It is nice to see the Dean look disgruntled from time to time." She nodded towards a large man, occupied with doing what appeared to be a series of very low lunges on the side-lines.
Law arched an eyebrow.
Nami's smile was by now sweet enough to give any unwary spectators diabetes.
Sanji sighed and moved Nami's bag further to the side, their game preparations complete. The newcomer had to be the current thorn in Nami's side, judging by her overly saccharine attitude. She never used it unless she had nefarious plotting afoot, such as wrangling her favourite dinner from Sanji or making Usopp do her turn of the cleaning duties. Sanji was more than happy to accommodate her, especially as it annoyed Zoro, but he wondered what this Trafalgar dude had done to earn her wrath. He had heard about the incident at the Halloween Masquerade (as had everyone else living in Casa de Sunny. Multiple times. At length.), but he had thought her ire would have settled by now. Her early grumblings of him not reacting especially harshly to either her glitter-infused 'Get well soon!' card she had asked him to deliver when Bepo had taken ill with a bout of the flu, nor the onslaught of ABBA she subjected her new officemates to, had shifted into gushing over the latest theory on meteorology, courtesy of Bepo, or the occasional sigh about Trafalgar's inability to close the door or get her coffee right.
Which was a sure-fire sign of something weird going on. Nami was particular about her coffee.
Extremely particular.
Sanji was, of course, allowed to make it for her, but otherwise she always preferred to prepare it herself. It was hard to fault her, living with two of the most tasteless humans Sanji had met as well as two people who didn't drink coffee and thus lacked the expertise of making said beverage, but he had still found the off-hand grumble odd when he heard it one rainy Thursday afternoon.
There was also the fact that an enormous Hello Kitty-doll had taken up residence in their office, which he had noticed the last time he visited.
Sanji knew Nami. He knew her habits and ticks, her coffee-preferences and, with a sigh and small raincloud gathering over his head, her dating history. She would never have accepted the presence of a large, fluffy, stuffed animal from anyone in the Sunny, except perhaps from former-housemate Vivi. But no way in Hell a new acquaintance would get such acquiescence. He still remembered when Chopper had tried to hang a motivational poster with a kitten dangling from a piece of rope and a soft font proclaiming 'Hang in there!' in their kitchen. There had been Words. Nami might look soft and sweet, even act like it on occasion, but she was far from it.
Miles, even.
Leagues and fathoms.
A very, very long way away indeed.
He had to assume it had something to do with the Mink she was working with nowadays. Maybe the presence of one large, fluffy animal had desensitised her to the presence of another, although the second one being of the stuffed variety.
A shrill whistle rang through the air, gathering all attention and breaking the staring competition between Nami and Law which neither had seemed to notice as well as dispersing the cloud over Sanji's head.
An old woman, short in stature but large in air and with a respectable set in her jaw marched to the middle of the field, holding a ball with one hand and her whistle, the probable cause of the tinnitus-inducing sound, in the other.
"I want to see a clean game this time, you lot," the old lady began, her voice carrying over the field. "No kicks, trips, jumps, charges, strikes, pushes, tackles, tickles, holds, hands, elbows, shoulders, knees or toes. No heckling or intimidation from the sidelines–" she sent a wry look at some of the assembled spectators who looked crestfallen as they lowered their homemade banners and a quite impressive papier mâché-lookalike of the Dean "–and no Devil Fruits. Have everyone with a power gotten their blockers?"
There was a chorus of 'Yes ma'am' at this and several peeved faces.
As Devil Fruits were deemed 'unsportsmanlike' in team sports, it was customary for players in several fields to don a necklace, bracelet or similar accessory, adorned with a piece of seastone, small enough to inhibit their powers but not enough to curtail their movement too much.
For obvious reasons, this didn't apply to the swim team.
Tsuru's keen eyes found a player in the back of the student team. "You too, Eustass?"
Eustass Kid, engineering prodigy extraordinaire and the self-proclaimed love of Nami's life until he, three weeks ago, had understood that no really was no (nowadays he was quite pleasant company, almost able to match her and Zoro drink for drink during their bouts of debauchery), nodded sullenly, fingering the piece of string adorning his broad neck. His flaming hair, almost a match for Nami's (which hadn't convinced her to go on a date, not even when he implored her to 'think of the babies') was held out of his eyes with a lime green bandana, the team t-shirt straining over well-defined pectorals. His painted nails played with the necklace as a frown drew his eyebrows together over a sharp nose, framing sharp umber eyes.
If it was only up to physical attributes, Nami would have climbed the man like a tree. Sometimes she cursed her inability to look past a total mismatch in personalities.
Last year, he had 'forgotten' to use the charm and had caused a small commotion as the teacher's team insisted that he had used his powers to move their goal, while the ginger maintained his innocence. It wasn't his fault that their goal was at the wrong (or correct, depending on who you asked) place when he happened to make a goal.
In the end, no-one could prove that he had done anything wrong and thus the goal counted.
"I also have to remind you of why we're here, as if any of you would forget. We have two teams, with their respective captains," she pointed to Sanji and the Dean who both straightened up a bit more, "who compete to get the ball," she held up the official match ball, "into the other team's goal. The team with the most goals at the end of the game is the winner. I have to remind you, in light of last year's events, that a goal has to go between the posts and under the bar from the front and that the goals are counted by me. No number of additional goals will be allowed or considered. I am not bribable. Not even with that," she scowled at the Lecturer in Medieval Pottery, "and any attempts at bribery or coercion of any sort will be met with the appropriate punishment. And a penalty kick for the opposing team."
The silver-haired lady let her shrewd gaze travel around the gathered players before nodding to herself, seemingly satisfied with what she saw.
Then she tossed the ball.
"May the odds be ever in your– WATCH IT!"
And so the game began with a flurry of movement attacking the ball as both sides joyfully jumped into the fray, not much caring about official positions or tactics.
Nami laughed out loud and ran after the ball as Sanji kicked it half a field away, Killer and Usopp's cheers from the side-lines echoing loud and clear in the crisp autumn air. It was impossible to keep track of much of anything once the game was on.
This was fun.
After a very energetic first half, the score was an even two-two by half-time with the faculty having caught up to the students' early lead.
Nami was occupied in retying her braid, having caught her breath after an intense start. The sun had disbanded the straggling clouds and an unusual November warmth had enveloped the field, exacerbated by the heated game. Her shirt felt plastered on and she wasn't looking forward to negotiating with Sanji on the privilege of using the downstairs bathroom with the secure warm water supply after the game. She knew he'd probably give it to her if she asked, but she also knew he had to go to work afterwards and that he'd be missing most of the after-game party due to this. She might be an evil witch, as Zoro was so fond of remarking, but she was also considerate. At times.
The good mood of the game so far made a small grin spread over her face. Maybe she could wait until he was finished this once.
It really was fun to play again – she really should try to find some sort of organised sport for herself. Sanji played football and was part of the swim team, Zoro did both kendo and baseball and even Luffy had found his place in the anything-goes martial arts scene, where Devil Fruit abilities were praised. Usopp was the university's best marksman and sweet, tiny Chopper loved pummelling his opponents in the boxing ring. After Vivi had dropped their tennis routine, Nami had been hard-pressed to find another partner and so had resorted to a weekly running schedule.
But there was something special in playing with others. She'd have to see if there was some sport she could try out during her exchange in the spring, or just wait and join a grassroots football club when she got back.
She sighed and took a swig of water, pushing the intruding futuristic thoughts aside to concentrate on the present.
The game was going well and there had been some interesting movements and trick shots performed as well as a lot of side-line cheering, Tsuru's admonishments regarding heckling working so far. She could only hope that their team would find a second wind before the half-time was over; the faculty was better this year than they had been in ages. Her eyes narrowed as she regarded them, huddled at the other side of the field, deep in conversation.
And then she stilled, the world coming to a halt around her.
Or possibly not, but it felt like sound became muted and the air charged with something she couldn't name or define, and that was close enough.
She had, with her little eye, spied the current bane of her existence standing on the other side of the field, a bit apart from the others roped into the faculty team, his eyes closed and head tilted back as he drank water like he was dying of thirst.
He had taken off his shirt.
Her throat was suddenly dry as the Atacama desert.
Trafalgar Law was fit.
She could only imagine what Vivi, currently standing beside Usopp bearing a large banner with 'KICK THAT BALL NAMI' and 'RUN SANJI RUN' on it accompanied by a nice little caricature of them both, would say the next time they saw each other. She only hoped the blue-haired woman could keep it to herself during their tea with Bepo: if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she would not, under any circumstances, discuss Law's… physical attributes… around the pure and gentle and totally innocent polar bear.
Not that she wanted to discuss Law. At all.
But she knew that Vivi would.
And boy, was there things to discuss.
His body looked like it was sculpted from sandstone, muscles flowing as he lifted his arm to rub his face with a towel. He had several tattoos she hadn't noticed before, being eternally hidden under his baggy clothes which also, by the way, did his body no justice whatsoever. She particularly liked the framed smiley on his chest, although the intricate swirls framing well-defined deltoids were straight up delicious. His shorts were hanging low on narrow hips, the hard planes of his stomach contracting as he moved to pick up his– no, no, no, don't put on a shirt–
She forced herself to look away before he caught her watching.
Or staring.
Which she was.
Had been.
Would not do again.
When she peeked over her shoulder, he had joined the faculty huddle, all his clothes in their proper places. She did not consider it a shame. Not at all.
They seemed to exchange the last tactics before the second half as they broke up soon afterwards and Law got back to his bag, stretching those surprisingly shapely legs…
Damn.
She shook her head to dislodge the annoying thoughts buzzing about her head.
Why would a half-naked man have such an impact on her? She'd seen them before (there wasn't much of a sense of propriety in the Sunny – Zoro had laughed out loud when Shirahoshi, blushing furiously, had asked about it the first time she had visited and he had barged into the kitchen, just finished showering, to ask about dinner) and although Law was a very nice-looking half-naked man indeed, he shouldn't impact her like this.
Hell, Zoro was more chiselled than that and seeing him didn't affect her at all! As was demonstrated by her chucking the newspaper at him and admonishing him for intimidating poor Shirahoshi.
But she couldn't help her eyes swivelling back to follow the smooth movements as he stretched and – oh, damn, he was looking straight at her.
A lazy grin spread over his features as he strolled over to where she was standing, frozen in shock. That was the only explanation she had for her sudden inability to move. Never before had she cursed herself and her need to stay apart from her sweat-smelling teammates so much before. If only Sanji could read her mind now, as he seemed to do when she was feeling peckish, but no blond knight in shining armour or even slightly damp team clothes was in sight to save her from the dark-haired man, with Sanji being occupied in some innocent flirting with Vivi on the side-lines judging by her wry smile and Usopp's rolling eyes.
She steeled herself for the inevitable critique of their playing, having no other explanation for his approaching her. Law was known for cutting (although extremely accurate) reviews, both in the office and among the student corps. She'd heard more than enough of his… choice words from Luffy after their thesis meetings.
"Nice footwork there."
There's a first for everything, and this was the day for Nami to be at a loss for words.
Not what she had anticipated.
At all.
"Thank you?"
"Why the suspicious face? Do you think there's some evil plan behind my heartfelt words?"
"Knowing you, that's just what it is. A roundabout way of startling me with an unexpected positive comment, thus making me question everything and play horribly in the second half."
"And you think you know me," Law asked, raising a dark eyebrow. "Didn't know you'd been paying that much attention."
Nami scoffed, busying her fidgeting hands with retying the end of her braid.
"We have been sharing a room for quite some time now. You'd think I'd pay at least that much attention to my officemates."
"You do pay a tremendous amount of attention to Bepo. Thanks for that, it's nice to see him finding some friends here."
The rest of Nami's words disappeared in the wind.
A compliment and a thanks from the grumpiest person in the whole of her acquaintance?
What next, pulling the rug from under her with some tawdry application of negging?
"It's so very sad that you haven't let the same hospitality extend to le petit moi. I am deeply wounded by the exclusion, you know. Hurts my feelings. If I had any, of course, but that's neither here nor there."
Nope. Pettiness it was.
Law gave her another lazy grin and nodded to someone over at the faculty side, making to move towards them. He lowered his voice as he passed her on his way so only she could hear him.
"My comment was heartfelt; you play extremely well for someone without much experience."
Oh, so he was negging now? She didn't think he'd sink that low.
"And yes, you should absolutely think about that for the rest of the game. You forget, Nami-ya. I take the R out of pretty."
She had to bite her tongue before she blurted something to contradict him on that account, fury rising in her at both his words and her inability to stop staring at the play of muscles in his back as he passed her.
Her narrowed eyes followed his unhurried steps as she finished tying her braid and flicked It over her shoulder.
She wasn't in the habit of letting backhanded compliments get to her before and she damn well wouldn't start now. No matter how pretty or petty the perpetrator was. Or how aware he was of his pettiness.
Tsuru's voice rang out, giving them a couple of minutes to go before the second half began. The faculty gave each other sharp nods as they prepared for the game to commence. The students' previous easy-going banter had quieted down, their faces set in serious lines. They were fighting for an unbroken winning streak of over a decade here and simply could not lose. A crackle of almost tangible energy spread out over the field as the players took their positions once more.
The second half was going to be brutal.
And she'd see to it that a majority of the brutality would be focused on one Trafalgar Law.
Theoretical framework:
For a social network to develop, it is important to communicate. Our hypothesis is that this helps network actors avoid misunderstandings, thus strengthening interpersonal bonds and developing trust. A lack of communication, or negative applications of communication strategies, can result in negative perceptions of other network actors, weakening the social bonds in the network.