A/n: Thank you for returning back to Making the Grade!

I'd certainly been stuck on that last chapter for a good while, mainly due to how I wanted to perfect the writing surrounding Kuro. But now, we're not going to see him directly for a little while, so we're back to basics! And that means… we're back to Luffy!

That doesn't mean we're going to lack introducing new characters into this world, I certainly haven't finished filling out everything we need for a confrontation with Kuro to take place! But, I also know that if I avoid Luffy for too long, I might cause a riot, so here's a chapter about Luffy taking on one of his most dangerous challenges yet: a new tutor! I haven't spoiled who they are just yet, but I hope their actions leave you intrigued until the very end.

Hope you continue to enjoy me re-imagining!

XXXXXXXXXX

Most of the students Clover Kitamura called into counseling were struggling in their classes for a few very specific reasons. Even then, he knew that most of those reasons could be boiled down to 'They simply didn't care'.

This was certainly not the case with Monkey D. Luffy.

"Tutoring?!" Luffy screamed, causing the guidance counselor on the other side of his desk to flinch in reaction. "But I've been doing so well!"

"Not according to these grades, you're not." Clover pointed down towards a piece of paper on top of his desk, layered atop several other papers haphazardly strung about. The small room Luffy and Clover sat in was filled to the brim with books and documents, a labyrinth of record-keeping over what Luffy could assume to be decades at his job.

"What about my last tests?! Nami helped me study for those and everything!"

"You did see a marked improvement…" Clover admitted, but quickly shifted focus. "And if you're really serious about improving your work, then one of our student tutors would do wonders for you."

Luffy grimaces with furrowed eyebrows, leaning back into his chair enough to where he could prop his head back and look towards the ceiling. "How long would it take up?"

"Well, depending on the tutor, it would be a couple of hours for two days after school each week."

"Hm…" Luffy hummed, his tone unreadable.

From Clover's perspective, he couldn't tell if Luffy was seriously considering the proposition or not. Luffy was still stuck with his head up towards the ceiling, but he didn't look any better than before. Clover knew to be careful about how to approach a situation like this: Luffy certainly had passion, that's for sure. If he snuffed out his desire for getting a tutor now, right on the verge of raising his grades, then it would've been all his fault. And Clover was not the type to give up easily.

"Why don't you have a look at the student tutors we have here?" Excitedly, Clover moved some papers around. Before Luffy could fully wonder how Clover knew where specific papers were in the mess of a mountain he'd created, he pulled out an organized sheet. After looking through it for a few seconds, Luffy's eyes lit up.

"Wait! I know them!" At the far bottom of the page, a name shone just as Luffy determined to remember it: Nico Robin. He pointed the name to Clover, exclaiming, "She's the girl with the ponytail, right?"

"You want… Robin to tutor you?" That was a first, Clover thought. He'd had people request anyone except her, really. Not that she was a bad tutor, far from that. But she was… a unique soul, he understood.

"Yeah! She was super cool to me!"

"You'd have to meet up with her today, you know?"

Luffy leaps up in fear. "Today?! But they're doing a dance club after school!"

"Are you serious about this?"

"Yeah!"

"Then after school it is. No exceptions, until your grades rise to an acceptable level."

In a moment that Clover could only be considered surprising, Luffy sulked for a few more seconds before closing his eyes, taking in a deep breath, and leaping back up with the energy of a young child.

"What's the plan, teach?"

"Again, I'm a counselor, but I'm glad you've taken interest in my proposal!"

Clover smiled. It'd been a while since he'd dealt with a student this… excitable, but also one with a clear passion to catch up to the rest of the pack academically. From the grades he'd seen, he was certainly far from the finish line, that's for sure. But whatever drove him to getting his diploma, Clover hoped Robin could finally help someone get there.

One Piece - Making the Grade

New World!

"Nami!" Luffy happily cheered, bounding through the busy hallways of the school just as the girl was about to head through its outer gates.

Her head was hanging down, trying to push past the buzz and noise around her, before leaping up in a happy surprise. "Oh, hey!"

Luffy barreled towards her, bumping into several students along the way. Nami winced at the lack of care Luffy gave about the waves of students around them, but to her, it was equally as charming. He was almost like a dog of sorts, a one-track-mind with the simple goal of making his way to her. By the time he was right in front of her, she had gone from sullen to beaming.

"You know how you couldn't tutor me anymore?"

Nami calmed down a bit, almost mentally preparing for him to ask her about tutoring him again. "Yeah, I know. And I mean it, Luffy-"

"I got a tutor!"

Nami reeled back in surprise. "What?"

"Yeah! I got called to the teacher guy who doesn't teach earlier, and-"

"The guidance counselor?"

"Yeah, that. And he said that I wasn't doing great, but that they had someone to help me out after class today!"

Without hesitation, Nami grabbed Luffy's ear, burning with frustration. "What is this?! I thought you were doing better?!"

"I am! The consort guy said as much!"

Nami let go of his ear, confused. "Wait, if you're doing better, then why do you need a tutor?"

"I don't know!" Luffy nearly yelled, holding his wounded ear. "He said I was doing better though!"

Nami sighed, brushing back her hair. "Alright, sorry. It's just weird though. Didn't realize the school offered that kind of stuff."

"I know, right!" Luffy said gleefully. "And I even know the tutor! I'm gonna graduate before you know it!" He gave her a confident thumbs up. "Thanks for tutoring me before this, though. I wouldn't know any of those math symbols without your help."

"They're just algebraic letters…" Nami muttered, before perking herself right back up. "But, I really appreciate it, Luffy."

With the two of them in high spirits, Nami thought about how she was putting off asking Luffy to Homecoming. It would be so easy, and it's not even like she wanted to ask him about anything close to a relationship. School was still only just starting up, and even though she was getting busier, enjoying the ride with Luffy and company didn't sound like a bad time at all.

But still… The temptation to ask him to the dance was still there. It's not like she was interested in asking anyone else she knew, and knew that having Luffy around for even just a bit longer than she would have otherwise would most likely make the night that much more energetic and enjoyable.

BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP!

Nami leapt out of her thoughts, reaching into the pocket of her backpack to pull out her phone. A reminder was going off for her to be on her way to the town's bus central, which she would be taking to get to work that night.

"I'm so sorry, I need to get going."

"Alright! Just- OH YEAH!" Luffy nearly leapt out of his clothes, a wave of remembering coursing through his body. "We were all gonna meet up after my tutoring, get a bite to eat. Want to come?"

"I… I wish I could." Nami quietly spoke, just underneath the sounds of the people passing them.

"What?"

"I- I just meant to say I have work tonight, and it's a long shift…" Nami spoke up this time, hoping to not repeat herself further. "Sorry. Maybe next time."

"You better next time." Luffy spoke with more seriousness than Nami was expecting, before breaking out into a sincere smile. "You're our friend too, you know?"

"Yeah…" She smiled back, before the urge to ask him to the dance hit her one final time. It was almost weird how the thoughts came running back to her, as though it were a warning of some sort, but she just chalked them up to the nerves of actually having to ask someone to a dance for the first time.

Back where she stayed for middle school, several guys asked her to the final grade level's dance. But she just pushed it aside, instead opting to go with friends. Now, she was the one struggling to ask out a guy, the pressure right on the top of her head.

And she was about to.

But the thoughts of having a good time with Luffy started being replaced with thoughts of the things she had to accomplish on her own. Her relationships with her family, the pressure of working towards a career much more ambitious than her peers. The weight of having to work a job during high school, not because she wanted to but because she had to in order for everything to work out just as planned. It was overwhelming, like a giant block of text on a page filled with words you barely understand, surrounding your brain with thoughts of incompetency.

"Have a good study session, alright?" Nami quickly spoke, realizing it had been just a second too long since she'd last said anything, before bolting away from Luffy. She didn't see his reaction, but she could only imagine he was cartoonishly puzzled at her odd actions.

He had a weird way of being able to read people, and she could only hope she was the exception, this one time.

Nico Robin was the kind of girl who would never let anything get to her.

That's how her father, the Mr. Crocodile of Baroque Works Steel and Manufacturing, worked since he first had a business. Growing up, his stone-cold demeanor was etched into her mind, a complete control of any situation which required decades of experience to fully earn. She didn't have age on her father. Despite that, her ability to learn from and study exactly how Crocodile ran his world made her all the more confident that she would be able to do the same.

And now, she was being asked to tutor one Monkey D. Luffy.

From their first interaction, an air of something Robin could only put down as 'earnestness' exuded from him in a way that she'd never seen in another man before. He was almost her exact opposite; while Robin would use her skills in manipulation to control one's perception of her, Luffy wore exactly who he was on his sleeve.

In their first conversation, Robin immediately recognized him as the grandson of an important member of the police force, something which she simply deemed would be more useful later. Maybe as knowledge to use as leverage as someone who could potentially be her enemy in the game of rich kids at a prestigious private school, or just as a fun fact to gain respect from him. Not all the students in the school were fans of the police, after all.

But when they met again, everything changed.

His demeanor, his energy, his naivete, were only amplified and confirmed by their second conversation. He first celebrated her incredibly small act of kindness, indirectly called her beautiful by commenting on how he preferred her hair down, and then directly called her beautiful and asked her out on a date.

He obviously didn't fully understand how he came off, but Robin would be the first to admit she was tempted to accept his offer just on the strength of character he presented. That would make him the first guy she'd seriously considered accepting a date from, which was a list that included several attractive, powerful teenagers over the past few years. That doesn't mean she hadn't messed around with a guy or two for other purposes, mainly getting the attention of their friend groups and associates. But as an avid reader, Robin had always been most attracted to a good mystery.

All of this context made Robin even more confused, as Luffy was the one who asked for her to be his tutor.

If overanalyzing the personality traits of someone she'd probably spent less than ten sentences conversing with was normal, then she'd be a lot more popular. She was still attractive, and at least collected enough to take care of whatever she needed to, from forming relationships with the sons and daughters of powerful businessmen, to making deals in exchange for her help moving the scale of rumors and social intrigue at the school.

But, even as she waited outside of the school's library for Luffy to appear, she could notice the stares and comments about her. Being incredibly well-liked wasn't part of her equation. And for her part, she never really cared. But that didn't mean the rumors didn't exist. The kind that framed her as a devil, or a harbinger of bad luck. It was over-the-top, to be sure, but not entirely without merit… she had done a lot of morally dubious things over the years, but never without a goal in mind.

Which brought her back to Luffy once again. Did he simply not know about her reputation? If her initial impression of him were to be believed, then he very well might not know. In that case, it would only be a matter of time before he began to hear about her, and understand the risks he was taking having her as a tutor.

"You must be Nice Robin, right?"

Robin only realized then that she had her eyes closed while in thought, opening them to reveal a peculiar sight; the Student Council's Treasurer, and a butler by trade, Kuro Klahadore.

Robin didn't immediately respond, causing Kuro to continue. "I've heard from a good associate of mine that you're here to tutor one Monkey D. Luffy, is that correct?"

She didn't acknowledge him with a yes or a no.

"Ah, the serious type. Either way, I know for sure you're tutoring him. I also know about your… plans, from what I understand."

This got Robin's attention.

"What do you want?" Robin spoke quickly, now keeping her eye out for the Straw Hat boy.

"I just thought you would be interested in a little proposition, if you will. I win, and you win. You'll just have to do something for me first…"

"Robin!" Luffy called out from down the pathway to where Robin stood, right outside of the side entrance to the Library.

Robin simply waved back, using her other hand to brush any hair of hers that had been blown by the wind back to the solid black streak her hair became when not wearing a hair band. She decided not to wear it while tutoring Luffy, hoping that heeding his request would allow him to consider them closer than they really were.

"It's great to see you again, Luffy." Robin shone through a light smile, which was genuine. "I'm glad you remember me."

"Of course I remember! That jerk knocked my hat off, and you helped me up!" Luffy gave her a quick nod of thanks before continuing.

"And you asked me out."

"I did?" Luffy questioned, letting his memory stew for a few seconds.

"You were with your blonde friend."

"Ah! Now I remember. I didn't ask you out, I was just trying to get Sanji to let me go to Baratie."

"Oh, he works there?" Robin began, motioning the two of them to begin making their way inside.

"Yeah, he cooks the best food! But until I find a date, I'm fresh out of luck."

"Apologies, again." Robin spoke casually. "Although now with context, I can tell exactly what's most important about that arrangement…"

"What's the point of going out if you're not going to get food!" Luffy jumped right into agreement. "It feels like a crime or something."

"That I do agree. There are a lot of wonderful restaurants downtown where I work."

"Oh, really?" Luffy perked up, although paying careful mind to lower his voice now that they were in the library. If there was one thing Nami was able to teach him, it was that. "I haven't been downtown that much."

"I'm sure it's much harder to find a place you won't like there than an establishment you will like. Most of the restaurant owners out there dedicate their entire lives to making the interested residents of such a bustling complex happy, and you can really tell that by their cooking."

"...You kind of lost me in the middle there, but I absolutely agree!" Luffy cheerfully added, which got a chuckle out of Robin. It was quite refreshing to have a conversation with someone who wasn't afraid to admit they couldn't fully understand where she was coming from at times. Most of the people she dealt with rarely got to see the side of her that would bring up faults though, so it wasn't as much of a surprise as she was making it out to be.

This was her first sign that she should just go along with Kuro's plan.

The Student Council Treasurer had made her an offer she simply couldn't refuse, but no matter how good the offer, she wanted to be able to determine Luffy's character first. It simply wouldn't be worth it to follow along with someone's plan without knowing about its centerpiece, especially when she had so many questions about who he really was.

Despite all this initial positivity, she'd seen similar men hundreds of times before who quickly revealed themselves to be just as selfish and manipulative as the masses. For all Robin knew, Luffy could be using the power of a grandfather in a powerful position to get whatever he wanted, the absolute freedom of a child with a tank at his disposal. But what made people interesting to her is that she simply didn't know. With that in mind, Robin made sure to inform Kuro that she would make her decision once she'd acquired all the context she needed.

Eventually the duo found a table near the back of the library, right near a shelf of historical books.

"Man, these books look boring…" Luffy commented, lightly scratching at the worn down spine of one before taking a seat.

"You'd be surprised." Robin spoke back, from a place of genuine interest. "They do say life is stranger than fiction."

"Well, I read this one comic book about a guy whose hair was shaped like a paintbrush." Luffy shot back, just as serious.

"Then what about…" Robin, interested in Luffy's train of thought, picked up a book on the shelf from her seat, delicate arms extending out then back to the table with a grace Luffy was almost impressed by. "Wars in the Land of Wano, eighth Century to twelfth Century a.v.c."

"Wano?"

"Easternmost country on a lot of our maps. Have you ever heard of samurai before?"

"Yeah!" Luffy called out excitedly.

"This book goes over how they were invented, and how they were best used in the territorial wars of the time."

"That sounds… awesome!" Luffy spoke out, before purposefully hushing himself yet again for his respect of the library's foundational rules on quietness. "Let me see!"

Before Luffy could grab the book from Robin's hands, she pulled it away and back to the shelf. He had a good stretch, but all the way back to the shelf was just too much.

"We'll talk about it more… after some review."

Luffy frowned. His chance to distract from his responsibilities, gone like the wind.

"Okay! I think I got this one!" Luffy proudly proclaimed, before showing the paper to Robin.

"While you did get most of them wrong… you did happen to get this one right."

"Yes!" Luffy cheered, grinning from ear to ear.

"Is there any reason these types of math questions are easier for you than the others?"

"Well…" Luffy shifted into a more thoughtful frame of mind, but if Robin wasn't paying enough attention, she might have thought Luffy was making fun of her with an over-the-top expression. By this point, she knew that was just how Luffy had to act in order to think. "These are the questions that Nami helped work with me on."

"Do you think what Nami did helped you study?"

"Yeah! A bunch! She's really smart." Luffy confirmed. "And she always knew what I was having trouble with."

"Do you think it's because you're close?" Robin genuinely asked, interested in the answer.

"Well, maybe… I haven't known her for too long, but when we studied together, it felt like we were on the same page."

"When did you first meet?"

"Nami says we met when we were children, but I only remember meeting her on the first day of school."

"That's less than a month ago." Robin pointed out. "And you'd still consider her close?"

"Yeah! She's one of my friends!" Luffy made it clear. "It's not about how much time you spend with someone that makes them a good friend or not!"

Robin made a note in her big notebook, before pulling out a small, personal notebook and writing in there as well. 'Values personal relationships highly.' She wrote.

"Alright, then." She shifted focus. "Let's get another set of math problems on you. I need to see how far back your struggles go."

It didn't take long into assigning Luffy more work for the results of her test to reveal themselves.

"Ugh…" Luffy moaned, face planted on the table. "Can we take a break?"

Robin glanced at a small watch on her wrist. "We can take five minutes."

That immediately lit Luffy up. "Really?"

"Well, if you need the break-" Before Robin can even finish her sentence, Luffy was up, stretching his body as though he were preparing for a race.

"Got it." She concluded.

"This really stretches my mind, you know?" Luffy commented, still reaching around like some sort of chimpanzee. "You have to be at the top of your game, or things just go sideways when it comes to homework. At least for me. I bet you have the easiest time with this stuff, don't you?"

Robin chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't call it easy… but I've put in a lot of hard work. I'm sure you-"

Before she could continue, Luffy's face soured. In the distance, Robin could make out the muttering of two students at another table across the way from them. Each took quick glances at Robin before shifting back, not really even noticing that Robin herself was perceptive of them.

It was just one of many times she'd been noticed around the campus. Robin wasn't a celebrity or anything, but the school had a big gossip culture. She wasn't surprised people in the library recognized her. That's why she preferred to read directly off-campus, in a place like the cafe where the two had met. Barely anyone at the school cared for the diner-style food, so she could enjoy a cup of coffee or a pastry in relative peace.

Was this the first time Luffy had noticed something was off with Robin's perception around campus? Either way, it had to have come around eventually-

"Oi." Luffy spoke confidently, breaking through his usual layer of quietness in the library in order to address the duo of students. "You got something to say?"

The student's faces turned bright red, before quickly picking up their stuff and running out of the table. Robin was at least thankful that it was the closest desk for some distance, but she was sure several desks outside of their line of sight could've heard Luffy as well.

"You didn't need to do anything." Robin spoke quietly, yet full of her best blunt conviction.

"They didn't need to be a jerk to one of my friends." Luffy said, matter-of-factly.

"...Why?" Genuine confusion wavered Robin's voice.

"Why what?"

"Why do you consider me a friend? You barely know me."

"Nonsense!" Luffy waved his hand around, as though it were a non-issue. "You're helping me study. And you helped me up when I was down. You can't be a bad guy."

"I don't need to threaten you to be your enemy. What happens when you're wrong?"

Luffy's casual grin slowly faded, into what Robin could only consider his most serious thought of the afternoon. "Well, then I'm wrong. But you're not gonna be my friend if I don't trust you, right?"

Robin was shell-shocked. His confidence in those he trusted borderline on brazen, and reckless. And yet… despite the millions of reasons why she still had to not trust him, Robin was slowly turning around on her hesitations towards Luffy. At the end of the day, if it were all an act, then why take it so far? Why make it so clearly a part of your being, your all? For sick kicks? No.

Luffy just wanted to be her friend that badly, and they barely knew each other.

"Now, alright then. Let's get back on this science stuff." Luffy sat back down, patting the table like he was preparing for a meal. He wasn't really even thinking about her questions, Robin realized. Maybe to him, if his responses weren't enough, then that's that.

Quickly, she lunged for her personal notebook, and a ballpoint pen.

'I guess… I'm now one of his friends?'

"What do you got for me, Robin?"

The rest of the tutoring session went by smoothly, or at least as smoothly for someone who lacked several key elementary-level pieces of knowledge.

His math was littered with inconsistencies a statistically-average ten-year-old would've known in a heartbeat. His science knowledge bordered on the simple concept 'there's small stuff, and then there's big stuff'. His history was jumbled more than the contents of your average trash can. And his English, while not bordering on the psychopathically bad, was as close to low-level dyslexia without being able to actually be called dyslexia. His swapping around of words at a moment's notice, just because of how similar they sounded, made that very clear.

It's not like he was incapable of learning, either. He eagerly consumed a simple history lesson when she was able to phrase the events as closer to a story rather than a series of facts he had to memorize. He fought through science in a similar fashion, learning about the cells like some would learn about their favorite fantasy worlds. Overall, Luffy just loved stories, even if he had a decently adverse reaction to reading himself.

But worst of all, after the break's conversation, Luffy began to further act casually around Robin. Whenever he thought something was interesting, he would make personal comments about it, and try his best to engage in conversations with Robin. She wouldn't let him pass the topics they were supposed to review most times, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy his perspective on things. He may act like a child, but his curiosity rivaled some scholars she knew.

And that just made her decision about Kuro's proposition all the more difficult.

She… was having a bit of fun, whether she would fully admit to it or not. But that wasn't entirely unexpected, as she remembered.

"At first, he might seem average enough." Kuro spoke with a confidence in his words Robin only saw in the most prepared of men. "But what everyone who comes into contact with that Straw Hat kid comes to learn is that he simply isn't all talk. He's the real deal. Innocent to a fault. Supportive of all those who cross his path with even the slightest hint of goodness in them. But he's also got a fire in him, which he won't mind throwing at the nearest roadblock on his path to general happiness."

"Then why can't you deal with him?" Robin shot back.

"Because he's friends with someone who, pretty predictably, doesn't like me very much. I'm sure now more than before. In short, there would be no way he'd choose me for something over him."

"But he would choose me?"

"If you give him a reason too, that's my hypothesis."

"Your… hypothesis?" Robin sounded doubtful.

"Just see for yourself. If you're won over by him… that means I'm right about this, what I'm doing."

And he was right, almost scarily so. She knew the tactics of the Student Council's Treasurer were not usually to be doubted, if the rumors were true. Robin hadn't even talked to him before today, in essence the same as Luffy. She'd made assumptions about them based on nearly the same amount of information, after all.

So why was she so worried about following his plan? It's not like she had nothing to gain. In fact, she had a lot to gain, if Kuro could back up his words. But she wasn't heartless, either.

"Is that all?" Luffy asked Robin, a pervasive innocence shaking her up even further. "Robin?"

"Yes, that should be all."

"Then… are you up to anything?"

Robin finally shook herself out of her thoughts. "What?"

"I'm heading out with my friends after this to find somewhere new to eat downtown. It would be a bit tight, but we could fit you in Zoro's car."

She let out a snort-like laugh. "You do realize this is the second time you've asked me out?"

"This is the second time I've asked you to get food. From what I understand, asking someone out is completely different. …Isn't it?!" Luffy shot up in panic.

"I'm just teasing you." Robin spoke back with a more calm demeanor, hoping to bring his panic down a level. "I apologize, but I'll have to decline."

And this was the moment Robin was dreading. If she didn't say anything now, Luffy could just go about the rest of his school life not entangled in whatever mess she was about to drag him into otherwise. He could have a fun night with his friends, and then he could return to his normal life the next day. She knew that he was making a name for himself as rebellious and a bit of a big-shot, but at least he wouldn't have to be associated with her.

But what she had to gain… it would always be more worth it for her, wouldn't it? She'd spent most of her childhood working towards one singular point, and all she needed to do was use Luffy a bit to get to it. She could always apologize to him afterwards, right? She wouldn't be doing this completely heartlessly, right? Robin just had to make a promise to herself, right here and now.

I promise to make up for this, Robin thought to herself, closing her eyes to confirm it within her own head.

"Well, that sucks. Hope you have a good one then, Robin!" Luffy waved her off, backpack in tow, ready to make his way out of the library.

"Wait!" Robin called back, a bit more nervously than she'd anticipated it coming out. "Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you. If you don't mind…"

Usopp sat in the back of Zoro's convertible, taking in the evening air as Zoro and Sanji bickered nearby. He had a lot on his mind, to the point where the sounds around him, except for the wind, were completely gone. Orange rays hit his eyes, as frustrating as the choices he would have to make, lacking all of what usually made them calming to anyone else.

"Zoro! Sanji!" Outside of Usopp's bubble, Luffy ran out of the school gates and into the parking lot. "Usopp!"

"Oi." Zoro waved at Luffy, Sanji following suit. When Luffy caught up to where they were, the trio glanced over at their friend reclining in the car.

"What's up with him?" Luffy immediately picked up on Usopp's feelings.

"We don't know. He doesn't want to talk about it." Sanji responded, before taking a deep puff of a cigarette. Luffy, even in his focus to Usopp, plugged his nose at the smell.

"I'm sure getting some food in him will fix things up. Usually does wonders for me." Zoro commented, before motioning the trio to hop in and buckle up.

"How was your tutoring session?" Sanji curiously asked Luffy, hopping into the front passenger seat. "I've heard a lot about this Nico Robin, but mainly that she's one of the prettiest girls of her grade…"

"It was great! Robin was super funny." Luffy replied, his face turning into a big grin. "We've even got some plans for later."

BTS (Behind the Scenes) CH.6 -

This was a much harder chapter to write than I initially expected…

Along with continuing the Kuro storyline, I had to fully introduce Robin as a recurring character, showcase her dynamic with Luffy (keeping it distinct from Nami and Hancock), and set up an interesting mystery! What could be the thing Robin asked Luffy about? I hope it doesn't feel like something I left out of the chapter without thought when it actually comes back up again, really.

Everything else was me trying to continue a balance of setup and fun, moment-to-moment character dialogue. The scene with Nami at the beginning of the chapter was a really fun one to get right, because I slowly realized when editing just how similar her choice was to Robin at the end of the chapter. While Nami struggled to ask Luffy for something and Robin didn't, they both made their choices based on the weight of their pasts. Robin wouldn't have pulled Luffy into Kuro's plan if she wasn't afraid of something, just as Nami is afraid of messing with the status quo, even if there are some things she wishes she could change about it.

I could've written more dialogue between Luffy and Robin, but everything just kept on looping back to the dynamic of:

1. Robin has a preconception of Luffy.

2. Luffy subverts that expectation.

That was the theme of their interactions this chapter, so to break away from that too far would just be jarring, and doing more would just be repetitive. I think I found a good medium, where I can explore more of them in the future once we've grounded ourselves back with the Straw Hats.

Finally, I've unintentionally created an odd distinction from the original: that of the crew's popularity. This is sort of started in the last chapter, but I really want to present the private school as some sort of insular community, kind of like the world of pirates itself. There's obviously a lot of world outside of it, but inside, the stakes couldn't be higher. Hope you look forward to more of the school being revealed as we lead up to Homecoming.

Hope you're enjoying the story!