When the cherry blossoms fall to the ground...
And the scent of perfume fills the air...
The air sparkles with a new life and light...
As the gates of Whole Cake Academy open for the day...
Rumors and news spread fast around town.
In a town where crime is high, the police are brutal, and the youth continue to thrive, there's nothing like hearing the gossip that keeps everyone interested. Makino would hear the drunks speak about how her husband's crew and their good deeds. The rec center would always have some competition that everyone would look forward to. Even Raftel University, the shining jewel of the town, had its fair share of news, controversy, and juicy gossip.
The one who did all this rumor sharing and chaos cooking was the man, the myth, the legend, Foxy!
Running the local tabloid was never an easy feat. In fact, most people would ignore the filth he would write about denizens of the town. The news stand would still have some of his papers after a long news day. It sickened him since there was a time of peace going on and nothing new was happening. He almost thought that switching to the online blog was a bad thing.
Just as he was about to yell at his editor to cancel the fake news about Doctor Vegapunk, his trusted intern Porsche burst in with a stack of papers underneath her arms.
"Mister Foxy! Mister Foxy! I have some news for you today!" She rand past some of the other co-workers, nearly knocking over someone holding a cup of coffee. "So, like, you said not to trust my source for all things juicy, but I have some news that may attract the attention of everyone and put our Foxy News back on top!"
Foxy lay across the desk, rolling his eyes. "This "trusted source" of yours is highly shady. I admire that, but there's nothing that will garter attention. We don't have inside sources for Kaido, Big Mom, Blackbeard, Shanks, or even Whitebeard for that matter! I can't imagine what stupid schoolyard news you have for me today."
"Well….it does involve the Big Mom group."
That elicited a reaction from the downed publisher. His head shot up, a big grin wrapped around his face, and he started to cackle. Porsche backed away in shock while the rest of the group stared at him. Rubbing his nose, he snatched the papers from her hands and read the freshly typed article and pictures.
"Oh this? This is fresh, new, and involves a scandal of a lifetime. Does Big Mom know this? Can we get her testimony if this blows up?"
Porsche smirked, sitting down in front of the desk. "She has no idea. If we publish this news today, I think we'll be back in business in no time. Plus, Big Mom will get so mad that it will cause a shift in the balance of peace. This will cause enough gossip for the Foxy News to get back on top."
The rest of the crew gave a cheer as they started dancing about the room. Foxy nodded, giving Porsche a thumbs up.
"Very good intern! Tell your source to keep doing what their doing and gather more of this monkey business. I have a feeling he's going to be in the papers more than Roger himself."
Meanwhile, while some shady dealings were going on, Luffy and his weekend friends were chilling out at the local mechanic shop of Cutty Flam a.k.a Franky the Robot Man. The reason why they called him that was because his entire body was replaced with robot parts and other things that made him more man than machine. Whenever they had the time, Franky would allow them to come over for lunch and to catch up since they all went to different schools. In doing so, most of the school guys affectionately called him "Uncle Franky" despite the fact that he was in his early twenties.
Luffy laid across the table that they were using to eat on. He was slurping a soda, playing around and blowing bubbles within the stuff. Zoro raised an eyebrow at his behavior, taking another bite of his burger. Usopp and Chopper were playing the new Pirate Clash card game, Usopp clearly cheating and making the rules as they went along. Sanji was texting on his phone, a lovesick grin on his face as he continued to gush. Yamato leaned back against the chair, nibbling on some fries while staring at Luffy too. Franky was nearby, drinking his cola and fixing up a nice, shiny red car for a client.
"Alright, this has gone on long enough. What's wrong?" Zoro finally asked, wiping his mouth. "You clearly have something on your mind."
Yamato scoffed, turning away as they crossed their arms. "Isn't it obvious? Haven't you heard the news?"
"News? What news?" Usopp eyes darted towards the mopey Luffy. "Did he hurt a girl's feelings or something? I'm sure it was either a misunderstanding and he apologized?"
Luffy leaned on his hand, sighing. "I made a large promise that I promised to keep, but now I have all this information and I have to put it into good use! How do you date an entire family of females with various personalities? They have different quirks, different likes, and they all are Charlotte family members."
Chopper's jaw dropped. "No way! How did you manage to get them to go out with you? I heard some of those Charlotte girls are terrifying!"
This made Sanji look up from his phone, eyes red with fury as he slapped his hands down on the table. "HOW DARE YOU TRY TO DATE ALL THOSE BEAUTIFUL FEMALES! ESPECIALLY WHEN ONE OF THOSE GIRLS IS MY OWN GIRLFRIEND!"
Luffy glared. "I didn't ask Pudding out! Chill out Sanji and think for a second. You're even texting her right now!"
"Oh yeah...my bad."
"That's not the point here!" Yamato regain balance as they made a face. "The fact that you are doing this on the pretense of a false note sent to them is ridiculous. You should be finding the culprit behind this whole fiasco!"
Franky looked up from his work, smirking. "I think someone's SUPER jealous about this whole thing."
That comment made them blush slightly. Were they actually feeling this way because Luffy was going to be taking those girls out? They never acted this way around guys before. Maybe she felt a little something for Ace one time, but now that they were siblings, those feelings were dashed. Luffy was a cool guy and very nice to everyone, but that didn't mean they like-liked him!
Did it...?
"I'm not jealous! Just...worried for his well-being. When Linlin finds out that he's doing this, she's going to fly into a rampage unlike any other. That bastard once told me about how one time she went into a rage mode so powerful that she wrecked most of the naval forces in a coastal city. Her hunger pangs may be bad, but her anger is something else."
"Hmph, I wouldn't be so worried. Luffy has a track record of turning the worse people into his allies. I still can't believe that he managed to befriend Law or Kidd." Zoro snatched up another burger from the bag. "When it comes to the ladies, he seems to treat them properly too. I've been living with Perdona for awhile and she practically praised his performance from Halloween. Hasn't shut up about it too."
"Have to admit, Luffy has a stupid personality..." Sanji started to say.
"Hey!"
"I was about to compliment you! You never let me finish! The point is, Luffy knows what to do and say in the moment. I know he'll treat them to a night, day, or sunset around the town."
Luffy smiled. He really, truly felt that his closest friends believed in him that much. It was these moments he missed whenever he roamed the halls of the all-girls school. Girls had their cliques, their besties, and followers that hung around their every word. Somedays he felt like there were no one who could really relate to him. Without the male balance he was used to, all his words had to be carefully thought out, his comments were judged, and the females would always make sure he couldn't form those lifelong bonds. This was why, outside of school, he felt more alive and free from societal convention. His life has lately been revolving around girls.
It made him miss his old school much more.
Yamato placed a hand on his shoulder. "Luffy, if you ever need any help from us, your rec friends, your other crew, or any other ally, just know that we are one call away. You don't have to suffer alone."
Luffy smiled, placing his soda cup down and placing his hand on top of them. This small gesture of kindness made Yamato's heart skip a beat. Could they really help Luffy in this time of need? At the risk of revealing their identity to that bastard's crew?
"Someone's looking at Luffy with different eyes now." Usopp teased, making a face.
"Those girls better beware. If they break his heart, then Yamato will break their spines." Sanji joined in, snickering at the picture Pudding sent him.
"Geez...take that kind of stuff outside, you two." Zoro put in his two cents.
Franky just laughed while Chopper slurped on his milkshake happily. The moments like this were worth remembering since when the homework was done and the night was young, this made life worth living.
Tonight was a big night for the Charlotte sisters. Excitement was in the air throughout the house as the residents were moving around and doing something strange.
"Hey, do you think I should wear this outfit for my date or this one?"
"Which one of you stole my pearls?"
"I can't find my pink pumps! I want to wear my pink pumps!"
"Ugh! Is that my lipstick? You stole it!"
"I did no such thing."
Katakuri frowned behind his scarf as he read the newspaper at the dinner table. "There's no rest for us men tonight. The girls are getting ready for their dates with this Luffy guy and we can't even use the upstairs bathrooms."
"I can't believe that punk asked out all of our sisters like that! I can see the ones around his age, but the older and younger ones? He's repulsive!" Cracker declared, munching on some biscuits. "At least Pudding is unaffected, but her boyfriend is a chef! I approve!"
Pudding blushed as she started stirring her batter so fast that it was splattering against the floor. The dogs, Zeus, Hera, and Prometheus, ran over and started licking the vanilla batter from the cabinet doors.
"I'm just surprised that they would all go crazy to get the chance to go out. Most of them acted like they could care less if a guy asked them out." Oven pointed out. "Besides, what makes this guy so special anyways?"
"Well..." Pudding started to say as she pouted slightly. "From what my boyfriend has spoken to me over text, he seems like a loyal, dependable guy. A bit dense, but kind. I've seen him around the school tons of times and he eats more than Katakuri on Donut Day."
Brûlée cackled at that, making the older brother turn red under his scarf. "My, if anything he sounds like he would fit in right with this family. Oh, to be young and go out in this day and age. Although, if you are all worried so much, why not just spy on the dates? It would be easier to do that than mope around the house all day."
Daifuku looked up from his book and gave her a look. "Have you seen most of us? We don't exactly scream subtle at all."
"It was just a suggestion! You don't need to criticize me for it!"
Perospero licked his lollipop in deep thought. "No wait...that could work. We can phone a family friend to do the spying for us. In fact, since the first date is tomorrow, we can call her up tonight and inform her of what's going on."
There were a collective group of grunts, verbal agreements, and nods. This would make them feel better for doing this. Nobody would be the wiser and they could keep their family safe. The only problem with this plan is the distraction for Linlin. If she knew that her sworn enemy was taking out her sisters, she would throw a tantrum that could blow up the house...again.
They would have to find some way to get her out of the house for the duration of the dating season, which was easier said than done. She was nosier than most people and could practically scare them to their souls if she wanted to. For a teenager, she was quite deadly.
"If we are all worried about the same thing," Pudding started to say, taking out a fresh batch of biscuits. "Maybe we should send Linlin on a trip or something to get her out of town."
"Who would want her? Everyone knows about her massive appetite and she's banned from most taverns, resorts, and spas because of it." Oven sighed. "Face it, there's no one alive that would want to take her in."
A snap was heard as Mont-d'Or gave a grin. "We can send her to Grampa Streusen! He's always sending us letters to invite us to his resort and bakery! If we tell him that Linlin needs a vacation, he would jump for joy to hear that his favorite grandchild would want to visit."
"I almost forgot about grandpa! I can give him a call right away." Brûlée got up from the table to give the older gentleman a call.
"In the meantime, I'll inform Linlin that we got her a break from her mundane activities and sending her to a baker's paradise." Compote informed the table as she entered the kitchen. "I would also refrain all men from going down the girl's hallway for the time being. Apparently Flampe stole Poire's hairbrush and the fight broke the mirror and toilet."
Pudding rubbed her temples, mentally telling herself that this would all be over soon.
Guess who's back?
Sorry for the long delay. You try planning out dates for a bunch of girls and not sound like you are repeating things. On top of a b-plot set up by the bad girls and the fact that Luffy was nervous about the whole thing.
And eye surgery...which sucked.
For my manga only readers, should we add Vegapunk? Looks pretty cute.