Monkey D. Luffy leapt from his warm bed and grabbed his Straw Hat; despite the comfort his bed brought him, the hat was all his heart needed to begin bouncing through his chest. It was a reminder of the million and one things he had in his life that made it just as exciting as any dream could.
It just so happened that getting ready for his first day of High School was the one and only cold thought against the beating sun of summery heat running throughout his body.
Shaking that one negative feeling off, he ran from one end of his room and back again. He flipped off the two alarm clocks just about to go off, before saving himself from tripping on a pile of dirty laundry. Luffy hesitantly turned back around and pulled out a dirty white undershirt from the pile, tucked tightly in his arms.
The list of things he had to prepare for his first day wasn't small, but he had a series of texts from his friend group to rely on. Books, papers, snacks… it was almost like they knew exactly what he'd be forgetting-
Luffy paused his running, letting the realization finally hit him. His barefoot steps against a hardwood floor stopped echoing around him, the only sounds left were the creeks of an aging house and the singing of birds outside his second-story window.
Despite his excitement, the exhaustion of waking up earlier than usual on a summer day still affected him. It was only until right then, after running around for a minute and letting his Straw Hat settle on his head that it fully hit him. After a whole summer of being trapped in a house with his grandfather and brother… he was finally going to see his friends again.
He lifted the Straw Hat off of his head, giving it a sincere stare while cupping its top in his palm. Monkey D. Luffy knew his life wasn't perfect, but for all intents and purposes, he was living the dream.
"Luffy got out of bed earlier, right?"
Garp complained aloud, adjusting the stiff collar of a black-and-blue police uniform while pacing around a low dinner table. His graying facial hair was just long enough that the uniform's collar chafed his entire neck, an irritation which only encouraged him to take a swig of black coffee from a mug that looked just as old and faded as himself.
"Yeah, he just barely beat me to the shower. But I have no idea what he's been doing since getting out."
Ace pulled up the cuffs of his dusty orange coveralls and brushed back his hair just long enough to get in his way. Two pieces of toast from an aging toaster were caught by Ace's now-free hands and filled up with sandwich meats and condiments.
With the final sandwich of the bunch completed, Ace threw three paper bags onto the nearby island table. Each had a name written on them in sharpie, 'Gramps', 'Ace' and 'Luffy'.
"I don't get why that kid's so excited to start school. Especially with those grades he got last semester... If he expects to do the same as before and still graduate on time, and at a private school no less, he has another thing coming."
The complaints were covered up by another sip from his thermos, which he had to recoil from due to the still-lingering heat.
"It's probably just his friends. If there's anything I won't give Luffy shit for, it's for finding the most- well, interesting friends he could possibly make. Why else go to such a swanky school? Or even…"
"What?"
Ace turned to Garp with a serious stare. "What if he has a girlfriend?"
The two kept up the eye contact for as long as they could, before both bursting out laughing.
"Ha! While I certainly have faith in my grandson... he's just a bit-"
"Too uninterested in dating?"
"That's a great way to put it!" Garp clapped his hands together before pulling up his half-full mug of coffee and downing a good portion of it like a drunk.
"I'm sure he'll find someone for himself, someday." Ace said, the confidence of one sibling to another not to be doubted. "I just wish I was at peace with not having a girl the same way he was. He hasn't even been on a date and acts like it doesn't even matter at his age."
"Don't be such a-"
THUD! The sound of a toppling footstep at the top of the stairs shook throughout the house, before repeated tapping echoed closer and closer.
"And just on que-" Ace muttered, a grin still on his face as he washed a dish he used earlier.
"I'd prefer it if you didn't BREAK ANYTHING IN MY HOUSE!" Garp complained, yelling at the top of his lungs by the end of the sentence.
As the clamoring sound reached the kitchen, Ace didn't bother looking away from the dishes as Garp prioritized looking at a notification on his phone.
"Your lunch is on the right, Luffy."
"Stay focused, alright?"
Within seconds, the sound of a paper bag being swept up from the table was replaced with the slamming sound of a front door. Luffy dashed across the bottom floor of the house with much more energy than either of the two older men, causing them to wince in exhausted pain.
"Bye Ace! Bye Grandpa!"
The house quickly became quiet again, the rumbling of a teenager's chaos being replaced with the light sounds of an office fan in another room, and the slow simmering of a freshly used toaster turning off. Both took in the silence for as long as they could, the aches of an exhausting morning still in each of them.
.
.
.
"You made sure to check his uniform, right?" Ace called to his grandfather, putting the last of his dishes up on a matted counter space.
"You made sure he didn't take all of our lunches?" Garp casually called back, the phone he was reading still taking up around half of his attention.
.
.
.
The two were out the door before they knew it (despite the fact Ace didn't have any shoes on), watching as Luffy just barely missed the school bus.
Out in the fresh morning sun, the young teen stood proudly in a stuffy school uniform puffed out to match his proud chest. It was accented with his worn, familiar Straw Hat covering much of his messy black hair. The white undershirt, yellow vest and sky-blue uniform coat were surprisingly sharp on the overall rugged teenager. Besides the overall niceness of the uniform he was being forced to wear, his required gray pants were rolled up just a bit from the bottom of his legs, as though he were on vacation and walking the sandy beaches of some beautiful archipelago. It soon hit Garp that Luffy wasn't even wearing his school's required shoes at all, instead wearing his most casual pair of sandals.
Considering how much they remember Luffy complaining about a uniform requirement to begin with, this seemed like the only reasonable outcome.
This wasn't even to mention the three bags Luffy held in his hand, almost hidden by his backpack's filled size if not for the fact he was holding all three of them. A large 'ACE' in black marker was clearly visible to Luffy's older brother, allowing him to match the rage his grandfather was in.
"HEY! I PUT AN EXTRA MUFFIN IN MY BAG!"
"OH, CRAP-!" Luffy finally noticed the two ready to kill him and punish him in equal measure. Without hesitation he booked it down the street, bags swaying and bouncing around as Luffy scurried away.
"Come on!" Garp pulled out his keys. "We can take the police car! That way I can turn on the siren!"
"Eh... at this point I'll just call it a gift for getting into high school. Besides, he's always had a knack for getting himself out of trouble. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"He may have a knack for getting out of trouble..." Garp admitted. "But he's always getting into trouble first!" Before Ace knew it, the sirens of a police car blared down the street as Garp backed out of the driveway, spun around, and tore off into the roads ahead.
"Hasn't even gotten there yet and he's already screwed." Ace said, turning back around. He closed the door behind him, dejected and muffin-less.
One Piece - Making the Grade
New World!
Edit (5/9/23): Several scenes have been reworked/expanded upon to further improve the chapter, both as a solo piece of storytelling and adding in the foreshadowing required to complete the vision I have set out. Nothing was removed, necessarily, just further expanded upon.
Edit 2: After having worked on the story for a year now, I've come back to this chapter (and hopefully the other original seven someday) to further polish up and tighten up the story to the best of my ability. I use a lot of words to tell my stories, but if there are ways to make the writing more consistent and of higher quality, then why shouldn't I try to improve what's there?
Draft 4: Beyond further improvements, the opening morning of Luffy's day has now been permanently shifted into a Prologue, and Luffy's scene with Sanji at the end of the chapter has been moved to the end of Chapter 3.
A/n: Welcome to the world of 'Making the Grade'!
For those who are unaware, this is not my original concept. A user by the name of Supreme-King began writing a One Piece 'High School AU' Fanfiction back in 2012, over a decade ago. With that premise I wasn't easily invested, but as we followed the adventures of the Straw Hats through a realistic high school setting, Making the Grade really surprised me! There were character arcs inspired by the original islands of the story, and fun mix-ups to the established formula that made for a great reading experience for any fan of the original works by Eiichiro Oda.
But as of 2017, the story remains unfinished. And at what a cliffhanger too! I never thought I'd be as invested in a High School AU as the original series, but it was only as the series sat for years without progress did I realize just how much potential remixing this cast of characters in a new world truly had. I had to see it end, and if not by Supreme-King's hands, then by my own.
Based on the original work and comments left to me by the original author, I have a clear vision for re-writing the series. This will be my own interpretation, but I'm going to try and stay as faithful to what I loved about the original work as possible. Just like the original author all the way back in Chapter 1, I'm writing this story to see how much I've improved as a writer over the years, and I hope not to disappoint.
Hope you enjoy my reimagining!
XXXXXXXXXX
The main building of Grand Line High was a two-story affair of white bricks and fading ocean-blue accents, only accessible by a rusty steel gate that appeared more in line with a haunted mansion than a private school. The only variation in decoration came in the windows stretching from one end of the building to the other, an obviously modern renovation for a building that looked like it creaked despite being made out of brick and concrete.
The other schools he'd gone to in the past had all been general public schools. Each was fine in their own right, for what they were. But Grand Line High attempted to stand proud as one of the biggest private schools in the country. It was even named after the giant mass of cities and towns stretching from Luffy's home of the New World to the southern pleasures of Paradise, covering a region as creatively and intellectually diverse as the school itself claimed to be. One could tell from just a few glances that those who renovated the building were trying to envision something more approachable.
But in the end, it just looked like a face-lifted prison. Or an aging castle, too old for the modern conveniences it attempted to provide.
And yet, despite everything pointing to the depressing and low-grade scale of the private school, Monkey D. Luffy stood proud in its front gate. Light shone in the morning sun through the fading paint on a metallic sign of their mascot, the Marine.
He grinned from ear to ear with the innocent cheer of a child before eventually having to let out a joyous laugh. It was a raw excitement, the kind of laugh that usually could only come about from deep emotional catharsis, like reuniting with an old family member, or the kind of joke built up to a pitch-perfect point from hours of being comfortable with the type of close friend money could never buy.
Not even the tense situations that had brought him there could hold him back.
"Another D?!" Garp exclaimed, tossing down the report card with an exasperated scoff. He eyed Luffy up and down, before completely refusing to look at him directly as he made his case. "Living up to the 'D' in your middle name, huh? Shouldn't have named you that, that unlucky idiot-"
"But Grandpa!" Luffy began, catching the paper right before it hit the floor. His Straw Hat slowly drifted down while Luffy himself lunged down, only being caught by his head as he rose right back up."I did fine in my other classes! That should be enough to get into Grand Line High, right?!"
"Ha! Even if all your grades were 80's and above I'd still be doubtful you get in without my help, and you want me to vouch for you with these piss-poor excuses for results?!"
"But I have to go!"
"Why?" Garp finally turned to Luffy, a small smirk on his face. "You finally going to tell me why you want to go to that private school so bad, or are you just going to give me that pouting face again?"
Luffy couldn't tell him, since that would defeat the whole point of him going there in the first place. The secret was tough to keep from the man raising him, forcing his lips into a tight purse and his eyebrows into a sharp point down. Without even realizing it he was doing the same pouting face he made every time Garp had brought up his reasoning in the past.
"Hah! Thought so!" Garp laughed off the satisfaction of his correct guess, before brushing his aging hair back and letting out a gruff sigh. "You couldn't have picked anywhere else, huh? Not some normal school, it just had to be the one place in the world I think you, personally, would thrive in the least?"
"It's not my fault you think so little of my intelligence." Luffy retorted, almost too confident in his wisdom.
"Of course it's your fault!" He barked back. "We all have our different strengths… and I guess if there's any way to prove that, dropping out of the one school you wanted to go to the most wouldn't hurt, huh?"
"What?" Luffy questioned, the statement sounding more like a reply to his own thoughts rather than a continuation to anything either of them were talking about.
"How about a little wager then, my boy?" Garp faced Luffy like a man should, firm gaze and broad shoulders. "I'll let you try and prove you got what it takes… but when that falls down the drain, you have to do things my way, no questions asked."
Luffy's eyes lit up, the slow realization that a chance at living the dream might finally come true.
Luffy cupped the center of his Straw Hat as the wind passed by him on the sidewalk. Despite everything Luffy had to be nervous about, the sting of the wind couldn't cause him to falter even if it were twice as cold and four times as strong. He'd finally made it to the dark castle of a school lumbering in front of him, and even the building's plain paint job was unable to falter the skip in his step.
Adjusting his backpack as he approached from the right side of the gate, to which a small 'skull-and-bones' keychain was affixed, Luffy pulled open Ace's lunch bag and claimed the last muffin from inside. He had worked hard to escape Garp's clutches, after all. He might've gone after Luffy like a maniac, but the police chief couldn't match the dexterity of Luffy on foot (especially with the freedom his sandals offered compared to the stuffy shoes required by the school).
Settling down near a wall adjacent to the front gate and closing his eyes, Luffy prepared for the muffin in his hand to enter his mouth… only for it to disappear by the time he closed his jaw and opened his eyes again.
"Huh?"
Luffy glanced over to see a bulky older student taking a bite of his muffin, looking down and laughing at him. His big red nose and pulled-back blue hair were immediately distinguishable. From the wrist holding his muffin, Luffy could also gleam a couple of golden rings surrounding the logo on his uniform coat, indicating he was at least a second-year. But no matter what he looked like, it didn't really matter.
"MY FOOD!"
"Oh, this?" The student joked, motioning to the remaining half of the muffin before he stuffed it in his mouth. "Mmm…"
"Gross, Buggy! And messing with such a cute kid as well…" Walking up to Buggy was a small group of upperclassmen, headlined by a tall, slender girl with glossy black hair, and an assortment of pink and white nail polish making her hands slightly sparkle.
"Oh, come on Alvida. I was only joking!" Buggy retorted, his mouth still half-stuffed with muffin. "I like to think I'm pretty good at comedy myself. Just look at this young man's smile."
Buggy motioned to Luffy. He wasn't smiling.
"Ugh, why do I even date you?" Alvida rolled her eyes, before walking away.
Buggy glared back at Luffy. "Way to drop the ball, buzzkill." His expression dropped, before flicking Luffy's Straw Hat off his head.
"Augh!" Luffy leapt onto the floor, barely being able to keep it from the dusty concrete below. He was sure there was a scratch or two in his uniform somewhere, but all he could do was take a breath as his hat sat safely in his hands.
"Are you alright?"
Luffy rolled around to see another upperclassman, one with similar black hair to Alvida but wrapped into a sleek ponytail. Tan skin and a more proper disposition set her apart even further. Glaring through wireframe glasses, she showered down a light, calm smile down at him, before extending a hand to help him up. As Luffy accepted the offer, and giggled in surprise at the girl's grip strength, he put the Straw Hat back on his head and let out a good laugh.
"Well, I want to give that guy a good punch in the face, but it wouldn't have done me any good!" As Luffy planted himself back on the ground, his legs stiffened. "And I might've sprained something. But at least I got my hat back!"
"I see. I'm sorry for what's happened to you, and your hat. The upperclassmen here can be a bit… egotistical, for lack of better terminology."
Luffy glared back at her in confusion, not knowing what 'egotistical' and 'terminology' even meant. All she could do was give him another glance over before chuckling to herself.
"I need to go, but if you ever need help with anything, just ask."
"Well alright! Thanks for the hand up, miss…"
"Robin. Nico Robin."
"Thanks, Robin!"
She shot him a surprised look. "My apologies… and you are?"
Luffy grinned from ear to ear, putting his hand up to his Straw Hat and adjusting it so its tilt wouldn't cover his face. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. But you can just call me Luffy!"
She gave him one last nod before heading inside, leaving Luffy back alone in front of the wall he'd been initially sitting on. As Luffy settled back down against the wall, he quickly caught another student staring at him from nearby, eyes agape.
Seemingly noticing Luffy during his encounter with Buggy, Alvida and Robin, the girl looked to be around Luffy's age. She sported the same female version of the student uniform that Robin and Alvida had worn, with her main identifying features being medium-length bright orange hair and bold, brown eyes. In a way, they even seemed familiar…
The moment she realized Luffy had noticed her staring at him, she took a deep breath and made her way up to him. Wanting to not be caught off-guard by another food thief, Luffy looked up to match her eyes and held his remaining lunch bags at his back. Their eyes met each other, being around the same height.
"You okay?" Luffy questioned. "You've been staring at me forever. Are you planning on stealing my food too?"
"What? No." She tried to shake off his odd comment, but it seemed as though his off-kilter question had made her forget what she wanted to ask. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, all she could muster was, "You said your name was Luffy? I overheard on my way in…"
"Yeah, and you are?"
She froze, not knowing what to say for a few seconds. Luffy, for his part, let her feel out what she wanted to say. He noticed her become a mixture of embarrassed and angry, despite not knowing in the slightest what he could've said to bring it about. The silence only built up her embarrassment, before she spat out,
"Not interested in talking to a loser!"
Without a way for Luffy to reply, she made her way around him and walked into the school. She didn't look back once, Luffy noted.
And yet, with all of the context he'd been supplied with, the only conclusion Luffy could come to from the encounter was:
'Huh… that's a really weird name'.
"He hasn't made it into the building and our little Luffy's already a heartbreaker." Someone spoke out from behind Luffy.
"That's a new world record, if I've ever seen it." Another commented in agreement.
Luffy turned around, and his confusion over the last encounter was immediately pushed to the side. A tall, muscular student with buzzed, green hair and an equally tall, slender student with messy blonde hair and a lollipop in his mouth stared back at Luffy, both with goofy grins on their faces.
"Zoro! Sanji!" Without missing a beat, Luffy ran over to them and tackled them into a massive hug. Sanji, the blonde-haired student, glanced around during the hug, making sure no one nearby caught them cartoonishly intertwined, but he accepted it from Luffy anyways.
"Glad you could finally catch up." Zoro chuckled to himself as Luffy let go of them. "After seeing your grades last time I wasn't sure you were gonna make it here."
Luffy rolled his eyes."Garp had to put in a good word for me… And if I knew the uniforms would be this stuffy I don't know if I would have bothered."
"Don't say something like that!" Sanji wrapped his arm around the first year student, letting a nearly-done lollipop rest in the corner of his mouth as they talked. "The ladies here might be beautiful, but finding good company is really hard."
He motioned to Zoro.
"I'm not blind."
"People could be mistaken by the way you navigate this school. It's pretty much a square and you'd have me believe it's some sort of corn maze."
"Wanna talk about blind? That girl Violet wanted nothin' to do with you, and you couldn't see it for over a month."
"You have no idea how women work, do you? They're a mystery, and they're just waiting to be solved-!" At this point, Sanji had let go of Luffy and was ready to have a full-on confrontation at the front of the school from Zoro's words. As Zoro likewise glared back daggers and spat insult after insult back, Luffy noticed that the last of the buses were heading into the station by the side of the school.
Just as the final set of students made their way out of the bus and onto the platform, another student with a similar uniform and a scrawny, pointed nose looked across the distance and waved at Luffy.
"Usopp!" Luffy dashed from the arguing duo and off to his friend, whom he similarly engulfed into a massive hug. The two noticed his excitement, bickering still but slowly catching up from behind.
"Wow! Great to see you too, Luffy!"
"It feels like it's been forever!"
"Well, who's fault was it for being grounded the whole summer?"
Luffy looked down towards the ground, dejected. "Don't remind me about the dark times."
"Alright, alright!" Usopp chuckled, before looking up and seeing two looming figures looking over at them from behind Luffy.
"Uh… are these…?"
Luffy burst out into a joyous laugh. "Ah, right! You guys haven't met each other!"
He first pointed to the student with short, moss-green hair. "This is Zoro."
"Yo." Zoro quietly nodded, a shuffle of his body revealing the rattling of Kendo equipment strapped to his back. The only thing Usopp could remember from that introduction was that Zoro would be the intimidating one, with his bulkier figure.
"And this is Sanji."
Usopp immediately took back his only thoughts about Zoro, as he noticed the blonde student sizing him up. With a lollipop in his mouth, he looked like a thug smoking a cigarette, ready to kick the crap out of him at a moment's notice. He needed a way to diffuse the situation, and with a quick glance, he realized that along with his backpack, Sanji had a small suitcase.
"What do you got in that suitcase?"
"Knives." Sanji coldly responded, although Usopp knew he could've just been confusing being cold with being blunt.
"Oh… well, you both seem very interesting."
"And this…" Luffy spun around to face the two upperclassmen. "Is Usopp!"
"Hey…" Usopp shrunk in his spot. He was originally going to regale Luffy's old friends with stories of the duo's time in middle school, but he certainly wasn't expecting such an… overwhelming set of figures to be Luffy's old friends. "It's… g-g-g-great to finally-"
"We should get to the assembly hall." Sanji cut in. "There's supposed to be an assembly when the bell rings."
"Ah… right…" Usopp deflated even further, his nose drooping in a similar fashion to a car sales balloon with a hole poked in its core. It took a few seconds of walking into the school for Luffy to even realize Usopp was just still standing near the bus loop, watching them walk off with a depressed glare in his eyes.
"Come on!" Luffy said, with a smile so big you could just hear it from the tone of his voice. "You're gonna miss the thing we got to do!"
Usopp could only let out a light laugh as a response, before nodding in agreement and following his friend and their previous friends into the tall, intimidating campus. Luffy might have been living the dream, but his friends who'd already been going to the school seemed to prove to him one thing: that Grand Line High might actually be as terrifying as he was anticipating.
The school's auditorium, filled with at most a couple hundred students, heavily stirred with conversation.
One thing the room did not exude was anticipation. Anyone who'd been to an opening assembly starring the principal himself knew to never expect anything but the most awkward, tone-deaf of conversations about the school. It was only after that when people really cared, which was the free time in between the opening ceremony and the first class of the day.
Seeing old friends and preparing for the hell of a year to come was worthy of conversation to many. Stories about the latest movies, break-ups and one-night-stands, the latest trends and the biggest parties of the summer surrounded the crew of Luffy's friends as they made their way to a selection of four seats in the back.
Surrounding them were people of all shapes and sizes. A tall, slender girl with sharp black hair and a dark demeanor walked with her posse down the center of the walkway just as the Straw Hats began to settle into their seats, causing Sanji's heart to near-audibly flutter. A slim, pale girl with white-blonde hair caught Usopp's interest from across the auditorium, but gathering the required courage to make his way all the way to her, let alone talk to her, was much more than he was prepared for that day (just dealing with Luffy's scary friends was enough for a week to him). A tall, serious-looking student with hawk-like eyes glared at Zoro from a distance, but neither truly acknowledged each other.
As for Luffy, he had noticed that girl with orange hair from before sitting just a few rows down from them. As she looked around, Luffy and her made eye contact. Without hesitation Luffy waved to her with a friendly smile, causing her to slink back into her seat with embarrassment.
"You know what you did to her?" Zoro questioned.
"I did something to her?" Luffy questioned.
"Figures." He muttered back, before sliding into his own chair and beginning to get some rest.
Before Luffy could even consider what Zoro said, the speakers of the auditorium crackled to life. Up on the stage, in front of a cheap stage mic, stood a man in a high-collared leather vest with a pudgy, red nose and wavy, lavender-colored hair. 'Creepy' would be the way Luffy would describe him, with 'unhealthy' and 'unnerving' being close calls.
"Testing, testing." The audio of his voice came out overly-loud, accompanied by a blast of static sending the majority of the students back into their seats, silencing the rest of them through sheer discomfort.
"Perfect. Ahem, you may call me Principal Spandam, and I'd like to welcome all of you to another year at Grand Line High!"
Each sentence he said ended with a dramatic pause, almost in the expectation that someone, somewhere, would react to it. After a few more sentences of acceptance and congratulations for the new year, and not a single clap or cheer to be had, he grumpily pulled out a piece of paper from his vest. Spandam read word per word what was written down, the feeling slowly hitting Luffy that this might not be as fun of a presentation as being mandatory implied to him.
"Here are the important announcements that you students will need to keep in mind this semester: first of all, the hall monitor program returns for the ninth year running! Please stand up, members of our newest brigade of students against tardiness and general rule breaking."
A collection of older and more exemplary students stood up from their seats, some clearly taking the directive more seriously than others. The big difference for each of them was their black-and-white colored uniforms, which seemed to be much more professional and sleek than the generic light-blue uniforms the majority of the students wore.
Closest to Luffy and friends, a student stood up brandishing a cartoonishly large and sharp square nose. Without hesitation, the three original friends immediately glanced at Usopp, whose pride had been intact for a whole three minutes before realizing the similarity between their nose and his own.
"Oh, come on! It's not that bad!" Usopp tried to murmur, hoping the hall monitor didn't hear him from that distance.
"As the ninth year of our program, I'm pleased you finally get to meet our CP9. Thank you for standing." With an annoyed hand movement, the collective of students quickly sat down. "One more group I want to congratulate is our Student Government, voted on at the end of our last year!"
Luff noticed that these students got a bit more cheer, but besides some silly hairstyles they weren't of note. After the Student Government members sat down, Spandam continued.
"Now… for the bulk of our opening ceremonies, we like to offer each of our new students a chance to introduce themselves to their peers."
As though on cue, the piece of paper that Principal Spandam was holding extended into a much larger sheet of paper, in what appeared to be some sort of large-scale attendance sheet. Many of the first years shifted around in nervousness, none more so than Usopp, even if just thinking about the idea of having to stand up in front of everyone in the large auditorium.
"First up, Adele…" As the principal began making his way down the list, students began standing up one at a time, quickly waving to their peers in an awkward display, before promptly sitting back down. People clapped, mainly to press the situation to go by faster, but that didn't make it any less nerve-racking.
"Next, Kaya."
The pale girl that Usopp had noticed earlier stood up, and for a moment he'd forgotten he was even in the auditorium, just staring at her. That ended up not being in his favor, as his name was called next, and he couldn't hear.
"Is there an Usopp here?" The principal annoyingly jeered. Usopp shot straight up, red in the face, noticing the same girl giggling along with many others at the lack of attention being paid.
"Alright, alright… next, Nami."
Now Luffy was at a loss for words, seeing the girl who'd confronted him earlier standing up. He wasn't taken aback by her beauty or anything… rather, he really thought her name was 'Not-interested-in-talking-to-a-loser'. He didn't understand why she had thought to lie to him about her name, although maybe she was just confused. Luffy immediately forgave her if that was the case, and waved to her again as she sat back down.
"Luffy!" Spandam called out, initially confused by the pronunciation and calling him 'Luf-fy' instead of 'Lu-ffy'. Understanding what he meant, Luffy casually stood up and basked in the crowd around him, clapping just the same as everyone else. Even Nami glared back, although in a hurried manner, hoping not to catch his eye again.
"Now please, sit down. Next-"
"Wait, what?! I don't get to say anything?"
The entire audience shifted their attention to Luffy, who was the first student to use their moment of standing to speak. Spandam almost did a double take in shock of the kid's courage.
"I'm really going to regret this… Do you have something you want to say to your fellow peers?"
By this point Zoro was shaken awake by Sanji, the trio of friends gawking at Luffy's general courage. Before Zoro could lean in to stop him, however…
"Uh… yeah! I think school is stupid, and I think no one should be required to come here! Set classes, limited lunch, grades! It's all just really dumb! I'm only here to graduate, and that's all I have to say about that!"
While several were grabbing at their seats in tense embarrassment for Luffy, Usopp included, several of the students applauded with actual interest. Luffy was the first person to genuinely reject any of the boring nonsense they'd been suffering through since the opening ceremonies began, after all. While not the reaction Luffy had been expecting, he simply bowed to the crowd in a mocking-of-regal fashion and sat back down, giggling from the unexpected adrenaline of the situation.
"Honest to a fault." Zoro muttered.
"But I mean, of all places? I'm glad he's here, of course, but people would kill to get into this school."
"I'd never have the courage to say that, even if I did feel that way…" Usopp shuddered at the thought of having to say something during his standing-up moment.
"Damn communist…" Spandam tried to mutter, although the comment was loud enough for the mic to catch him. "Now, with all of the freshmen introduced, I hope all of you stay on the edge of your seats for this year's new rules."
The students in the audience audibly groaned, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji included. By that point, Usopp was just along for the ride. The moderately large size of groans echoing through the theater even caught the principal off guard, causing him to throw the hand he was holding his notes down and fully glance at the audience.
"Now look, I know this isn't the most fun-" Before he could fully even react, the hand he'd thrown down had knocked into the stand with his mic, causing the whole thing to begin crashing down. After what had felt like minutes, the microphone hit the stage and bounced off. What could only be described as a terrifyingly large blast of static swept through the audience, knocking out the students who couldn't react in time to cover their ears and waking up the students who had fallen asleep by that point.
Luffy could only chuckle at the chaos, hands completely covering his ears.
Usopp and Luffy's first class together was 'World History', but even as they sat down, the bold words on the whiteboard 'PLEASE FOLLOW ASSIGNED SEATING' made any attempts at trying to sit near friends impossible. While it might have been possible to sit wherever they wanted in an even table arrangement, the seats were set up in pairs, meaning that whoever they sat with were people they were probably going to have to work with until partners were changed at the teacher's discretion.
For Usopp's part, he immediately recognized the name Kaya on the seat next to his, and promptly began freaking out. He even checked to see if he could easily remove his nameplate on the desk so he didn't have to embarrass himself in front of her, but not only were the tags applied tightly, they had students' names from other class periods affixed as well.
"Hello…"
Usopp looked away from his desk to see Kaya. And for her part, she met his eyes and gave him a shy smile before extending her hand.
"I l-look forward to working with you."
With any courage he could muster, Usopp grabbed her hand and shook it confidently. "I, too, am looking forward to working with me."
It took a second of silence, with their hands intertwined, for Usopp to realize what he'd said. Usopp grew bright red in embarrassment, as Kaya just giggled in delight at his little antics.
As for Luffy, his partner couldn't have been a worse match for himself.
"Do you have any food on you?" Luffy whispered to a short boy with bright pink hair. "I think I lost my lunch somewhere."
"Sorry, I just buy lunch at the cafeteria-"
"Could you speak up?" Luffy complained, his voice getting louder even as the teacher began talking.
"Aren't you worried about getting in trouble with the teacher?" The pink-haired boy just barely got out, continuously glancing between his seat partner and teacher in an erratic fashion.
"No. I can't get a bad grade for talking loudly, right?"
"Well, not exactly…"
"Then good!" Luffy exclaimed, leaning his head down onto the table as though he were going to get some sleep, eyes glaring at his seat-mate. "You seem pretty pathetic, you know that?"
"Well…" Koby couldn't necessarily deny it, especially when talking to the student that called himself out during a school-wide assembly. If there was any one thing opposite about these two, it would be their courage. Even then, he could have enough self respect about himself if the person he was sitting next to was just your average, run-of-the-mill slacker. "Then what do you want to do? Go home, play video games or something?"
"I want to graduate."
Koby was dumbfounded. "What?"
"I said I wanted to graduate! And from a 'good' school too, whatever that means." Luffy nearly yelled the opening part of that sentence, causing even the teacher to give the two annoyed looks. Even Usopp and Kaya glared over with the rest of the class, some at least impressed by how little of a shit Luffy was giving to the situation around him.
"I heard you the first time!" Koby spat in hushed tones, motioning his hands to lower Luffy's voice. "I was just surprised, you know. After what you said in the auditorium, about hating school and all of that, I thought graduation would be the last thing on your mind."
"I do hate school. I hate that it's required, and I hate that 'fancy' people get to go to 'fancy' schools like this, while just because you're not that you have to go to some less exciting school. I don't like much of what they teach, and I don't like most of the people who they get to teach it. Most teachers are jerks! But…"
Luffy adjusted his Straw Hat. "An old friend said it takes being a real man to get through school, and that when I did do it I could live any life I wanted to. Because of that, I've wanted to give it a good shot. So that way… even if I don't make it to the end, and I'm stuck in some dead-end job for the rest of my life, I'll know that I gave it my best shot.
"And that's not even the end of it!" Luffy giggled quietly. "I get to go to school with the best people in the whole world! So, the longer I stay at school, the longer I get to hang out with them!"
"Cool!" Koby exclaimed, almost too loudly. "I want to-"
"Koby! Luffy!" At this point, the teacher wasn't playing games, and their look sank a thousand conversations the two could've been having.
"Sorry!" Koby exclaimed, while Luffy just gave a half-hearted bow of apology. A few more sneers from the teacher, and they were back to focusing on the front board.
The two, almost in sync, then pulled out cartoonishly large textbooks to begin following along to the teacher's instructions. Along with the textbook, Koby had a small, pink notebook with a mechanical pencil attached to its side. Opening up the notebook, Luffy could see in its early pages several sketches of what appeared to be cartoonishly brave marine soldiers fighting over-the-top pirates, with peg legs and eye patches and the like.
"Ooh!" Luffy hummed. "What were those?"
"Oh…" Koby slammed the book shut nervously. "Those were just… doodles I drew. I draw a little sketch to go with my notes every day so I don't forget what day I did the notes. For example, today is my first day at Grand Line High, home of the marines, so…"
Eventually, Koby opened the book up to the page where his drawing was on full display. It wasn't great, but it had a lot of whimsical charm that drew Luffy in.
"Wow! That doesn't look horrible!"
"Thanks…" Koby said, dejected that Luffy's first thought was that it was going to look like crap.
"Is this what you want to do?" Luffy innocently questioned.
"No! This is just a bit of fun. What I want-"
The two froze as the teacher silently judged them from the front of the classroom. With finally being pushed to silence, Koby opened his notebook to a new page, and Luffy soon followed by opening up to the right page in his textbook. As the two began to get sunken into their books, Koby nudged Luffy on the shoulder, pointing to a newly-written line on his paper.
'I want to join the army, and leave a good impact on the world!'
As Luffy grinned from ear to ear, they exchanged one last jovial glance at each other before letting the conversation officially end and class truly begin.
Maybe someday, Koby would be able to say his dreams out loud. But, for the first time in a long time, the thrill of having someone to talk to was exciting enough.
Bored. Nothing else could run through Luffy's mind as he slouched on his desk during Math class.
Several classes had passed during the day, and if the only hope to not be bored was to have someone he knew in the class, then he was fresh out of luck. It was only the first day and by halfway through the class the teacher was droning on about equations… or something. Luffy couldn't bother to look up and pay attention.
Hoping to get out a bit of restlessness, he glanced around the room only to realize there was someone he knew: Nami, the orange-haired girl. She sat in the back, not too far away from Luffy himself. It was a big enough class, so with a bit of motivation restored in him, he tried to wave her down.
"Psst. Nami."
A pink-haired gothic girl sitting next to Nami ended up getting her attention for Luffy, Nami herself too stuck on an equation to really notice anything else going on. The girl pointed over her shoulder to Luffy, and when she realized Luffy was waving to her, she immediately began scribbling something in her notebook.
Luffy waited patiently, or about as patiently as someone bored out of their mind could wait, before Nami eventually tore out the page (using as little force as possible, hoping not to make a large sound) and passed it onto the gothic girl. Impressively, the girl thought quickly on her feet (which were adorned with comically rule-breaking pink boots), placing the note on the floor and sliding it a few rows down all the way to Luffy with a light kick. He quickly reached down to pick it up, but hit his elbow on the way up, causing a loud DING through the class.
"Luffy? Do you have to disturb my class?" The teacher called out, finally done with her list of equations on the board.
"What? How was I describing your class? If anything, this desk described my arm!"
"Disturb, Luffy. Even a math teacher like me can catch that, you know." She chuckled. "Alright, alright. It seems you got a note there. Would you like to read it for the class?"
"Oh, sure!"
Nami turned pale, the gothic girl began to chuckle like crazy, and Luffy began unfolding the note in his hands. He shook his body in dramatic preparation before clearing his throat, and with a long, deep breath…
'FUCK OFF, YOU DUMBASS!'
Zoro pulled out the note from the hand of his friend at the lunch table and unfolded it, only to burst in laughter.
"So, you got held back from half of lunch for saying… this?!" Zoro laughed from the gut, as a dejected Luffy sprawled himself out across their table.
"What's so funny about that?!" Luffy said. "I only read the note like she said."
"What does it say?" Usopp asked, sitting alone on the opposite side of the rectangular table.
Zoro passed the note along to Usopp.
"Oh."
He chuckled even more at Usopp's draining realization.
"It wasn't that funny when I didn't get to eat!" Luffy complained.
Usopp countered. "Didn't you eat your lunch during the assembly?"
"Oh… well, I'm sure I would've found something to eat if I'd had more time!"
"I mean…" Usopp continues to stare at the note. "I bet the punchline was funnier in class than just reading the note."
"And on top of that, you're getting notes from girls." Zoro teased. "Know what that means?"
"No."
Zoro facepalmed.
Usopp's attention turned sideways when Zoro mentioned girls. "Where's Sanji, anyways?"
"He's just creeping over women by cooking for them in the Home Economics room."
"Aren't rooms like that closed off during lunch?"
"Ask him, I dunno. At least school is halfway over."
"Halfway?!" Luffy complained, louder than before. His two friends chuckled at the extent of his whining, both completely absorbed in the nervous breakdown of their friend who'd been fine just a few class periods before.
"You're such a kid." Zoro playfully complained, before taking a swig of a high-quality thermos.
"Am not!" Luffy immediately rebutted, body spread out on the table and eyes on the verge of tears.
Usopp could barely contain his laughter at Luffy's adolescent breakdown, but Zoro kept his stance firm.
"You could have, I don't know, avoided calling out the entire school during the assembly?"
"But how could I not say anything?! It's like people think that school is about doing smart stuff and getting good grades!"
"How could anyone think like that?" Zoro said sarcastically.
"See! Thank you." Luffy puffed up his chest in pride, undoubtedly believing that he'd convinced his friend of his righteous cause. But before they could tell him otherwise-
"OW!"
Luffy glanced up to see Koby, the kid he'd sat with earlier, being tripped by a tall girl just a few tables down. With a few seconds to process, Luffy could immediately recognize who was over there picking on him. Or, well, he could've, if he could remember their names. But they were the same jerks who messed with his Straw Hat at the beginning of school! How could he forget such assholes as… Ava? Binky?
"Thought you were above this, Alvida?" Buggy questioned, arms behind his head as he chuckled in delight at the young student's misery. Koby in question was now covered in his own lunch, the lunch he was just trying to get back to an empty table.
"When I see someone as pathetic as this brat cross my path, I let my beautiful side out."
Alvida crouched down, picked up the small Koby by his shirt-collar, and showcased a wicked smile.
"I'm sure you remember this one: who's the prettiest girl of all, you pathetic wimp?" She teased, the answer by her tone of voice being obvious.
Koby could only quake in fear for a few seconds, looking at the two looming threats above him. They weren't just your average bullies, at least not to him. Just as he was about to spit something out…
"Alright, Koby… who's the prettiest girl of them all?" Alvida spat, chuckling wildly to herself.
The three were outside of 'Shells Private Elementary', where not a teacher was in sight to stop the sidewalk bullying. While much younger than their high school counterparts, Alvida and Buggy still loomed over the short, scrawny boy shivering in fear. If there was anyone at school that was easier to make fun of than the spineless Koby, then Alvida and Buggy would like to hear about them.
"It's you, Alvida!" Koby tried his best to maintain a cheery tone, knowing full well what would happen if he couldn't maintain it.
"And what's this?" She gestured to her pant leg, where a smudge of dirt sunk into the fabric.
"That'd… that'd be dirt…"
"Of course it's dirt!" Buggy moved around Alvida and swung his knee into Koby's stomach. The boy collapsed to the floor, breath thoroughly knocked out of him. "It had to be you who did this to me, since only you and Buggy know how much I hate dirt."
"But couldn't it have-" Koby halted himself mid-sentence, too late to realize he was speaking back to her until it was too late.
Without hesitation, Buggy lifted up Koby from his shirt collar. Alvida gave him a disgusted look. "What were you about to say?"
"Nothing." Koby quickly replied.
Without hesitation, Buggy threw Koby back onto the ground, spraining his entire back and legs as he collapsed into the sidewalk.
"Wrong answer." Buggy chuckled to himself.
Koby's failure was near ecstasy to the girl, grinning with manic excitement and sadistic pleasure as she got to ask her favorite question one more time."Now it's time for an apology, for lying to me. Koby, who's the most beautiful girl of all?"
Koby wished he could say otherwise. He wished that he had the strength to fight back against them, or at least the courage to try. But they were both from wealthy families, both loved by many of their peers. They were like pirates, taking but never leaving anything in return. Vultures to prey, just overall ungrateful beings. If there was anything he wanted to do in life, it was to teach people like this a lesson…
If only he was the kind of person who could perform such miracles.
"Who's the hag, Koby?" Luffy spoke up, now standing right next to the bullying pair and their victim with a reassuring grin on his face.
"Luffy!" Koby exclaimed, both happy and nervous at his arrival.
"You…" Alvida gave Luffy a general look of distaste, her hatred of being called ugly overshadowing how cute she thought the freshman looked. "Buggy!"
Buggy stood between Luffy and Alvida, taking on a crossed-arm, aggressive stance.
"Alright dumbass, look who's talking! Don't get in between me and my girlfriend's business Straw Hat. Don't defend that pathetic wimp while we're busy."
For his part, Luffy was able to restrain himself as Buggy all but spat in his face. As soon as the big-nosed student turned away and prepared to punch Koby…
BANG!
Before Buggy could finish, Luffy landed a one-hit uppercut on Buggy, sending him crashing to the floor before he even had a chance. Zoro and Usopp leapt from the lunch table. They weren't going any closer, but they were ready to step in if need be. Many of the tables near them, and some even farther away, were now engrossed in the situation, the brawl going from zero to one-hundred quicker than any were expecting.
"Don't lay a finger on him! He's not a wimp!" Luffy called down to the almost-unconscious Buggy, a layer of fury lining his eyes. "He's my friend!"
"Those don't necessarily contradict-" Usopp began to say in the background of this confrontation, before Zoro covered his mouth.
"That's enough about 'being a wimp' out of you."
Alvida glared at him as though he were a barbarian, still confident he wouldn't come anywhere near her. "What about this little ball of anxiety isn't anything but a wimp?"
"He's got a dream!"
She didn't care. Alvida leaned in close to Koby, who was still hanging by the collar of his shirt, any lack of oxygen being replaced by the pure adrenaline of the situation. "I'll give you one more chance, pinky. Who's the prettiest girl of all?"
Koby turned to look at Luffy, who gave him a confident stare as the altercation occurred. Luffy only seemed to be stepping in when Koby looked to be in danger or something, so why wasn't he stepping in now?
He thought back to when Luffy was describing why he was still going to school, beyond the fact that he hated it. And he thought back to his own dreams. He wanted to help people, and deal with bullies just like them. And how could he do that when he couldn't even stand up to the likes of her? Going to Grand Line High was an opportunity, for goodness sake! Maybe he'd need Luffy's help… but it certainly wouldn't put him any farther to stand up for himself before someone else could stand up for him.
"Certainly not you, you ugly hag!"
"You bastard!" Alvida stumbled back, even more shocked then when Buggy got thrown to the ground. Just as she tried to ground herself, an object pressed against her foot at just the right angle. It caused her to let go of Koby and fall to the ground, her back slamming right into Koby's smashed lunch.
Luffy and Koby glanced over to see a girl sitting at a table right behind where Alvida was standing, giving herself a satisfying smile before brushing up her orange hair. "If you don't mind, I'm trying to eat."
"Nami!" Luffy laughed out loud at the revelation, but quickly Nami shouldered herself back into a look of discomfort.
"What is going on here!"
A girl in a black-and-white uniform made their way over to the commotion, mainly identified by her sharp blonde hair, bright red lipstick and librarian's glasses. She gave the whole situation a look, nothing looking good for either party. At this point Zoro and Usopp began making their way over. Before they could step in, Luffy answered for himself.
"They were picking on my friend! What else was I supposed to do?"
"Then what did you do to that guy?" She pointed to Buggy, who was just reeling on the ground.
"Oh, him? He-" Before he could say anything, Zoro and Usopp equally covered his mouth, hoping to save their friend any more face than he'd already ruined.
"Well…" She gave the situation one more glance. "I can see you were probably in the right. I still have to report this… at least five counts of sexual harassment-"
"Kalifa!" Another hall monitor made their way over, this one the trio of friends immediately recognized from the opening ceremonies.
"Other Usopp!" Luffy spat out from the layers of hands covering his mouth.
"We don't look the same at all!" Usopp complained. The student with a nose similar to Usopp realized the joke, and simply laughed it off.
"Do you remember this kid, Kalifa? He was the one who spoke out during the assembly this morning!" She gave him a look up and down, most likely piecing everything together by his hat.
"That seems right."
"I thought that was hilarious!" He extended his hand out to Luffy, who was still being smothered by his friends. "I'm Kaku."
"Okay, Usopp."
"Oh. Come. On!" Usopp whined.
"Anyways… seems you got yourself in a pickle before the day was out, huh?" The two hall monitors looked over to the general chaos that was caused by the encounter.
"I don't see the problem." Luffy noted. Zoro and Usopp smacked their heads in frustration.
"Quite independent, I see. Look, I'll make you a deal. I won't write you up about this, we'll deal with these thugs, and everything will be fine. Just don't get into trouble on campus again, and especially in front of Lucci. He wasn't exactly a fan of you like I was."
Luffy thought on it for a moment, but before he could say his peace Usopp took Kaku's hand and shook it. "Ahaha! We'll make sure our friend here doesn't get into any more trouble!"
"For your sake, I hope not. I'll be rooting for you, Straw Hat!" Kaku took Kalifa by the arm and began taking care of the bullies. Without hesitation, the trio, Koby and Nami shuffled away back to their original table, hoping to keep out of sight of the larger incident as more people came upon the bruised Buggy and messy, gross Alvida.
"Well, that could have gone worse." Zoro spoke first, turning to see a happy and smiling Luffy.
"Yeah, Luffy! What got into you?" Usopp responded in turn.
Before Luffy could answer, Koby cut in. "Luffy! Did you see that! Did you hear what I said to her?"
"Knew you had it in you the whole time!"
"I want-" Koby began to say something excitedly, before holding himself back. Even with the rush of adrenaline rolling through himself, Koby still felt awkward as can be vocalizing his desires. Luffy gave him a disappointed look.
"Hey! You still have to tell me what you want to do!" Luffy leaned in, the rest of the table letting Koby feel out exactly what he wanted to say.
"But I-"
"Not just on paper, dumbass!" Luffy took his shoulder. "Say it! Like the whole world's waiting!"
"I want… to be a member of the army! Or just do anything I can to help people!" He called out proudly. "I want to be able to deal with stuff like this on my own! I want to have the strength to carry that out, and the courage to see it through!"
The rest of the friend group gave him respectable looks.
"Seems Luffy's found another crazy one." Zoro muttered, a small smile cracking from his normally stoic figure.
Luffy leaned into the space between them and held up his fist, grinning ear to ear.
"That's really cool. Hope you can reach it, desk-mate."
Koby held out his fist right back, the rest of the table looking on with a general sense of admiration and respect. Things might have gotten a little hectic, but every bit of chaos Luffy got himself into seemed to come back on itself, back to something worthwhile.
"Luffy?"
The group looked down at the table, where Nami was sitting, squirming in her spot.
"Can we talk?"
Luffy took her in for a few seconds. Her eyes were narrow and tense. She kept her chin up, despite looking exhausted. Luffy wasn't psychic or anything, but he had a feeling that she wanted to talk about something serious… away from the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria.
"Sure." He quickly said, before she got up and began leading them out of the building.
"Oi." Zoro spoke up, arms crossed. "Everything good?"
"Why wouldn't they be, Zoro?" Luffy said, with a smile on his face.
The two leaned against the faded walls of the cafeteria exterior, in a corner near the back where few people were heading. Nami carried an air of seriousness about her, and while Luffy was in a good mood, he respected her more serious demeanor and tried his best to match it. From the few times his family and friends were serious about things, he knew the best way to respect was simply to meet them halfway.
"So, you really don't remember me?" Nami finally spoke.
"Uh…" Luffy looked at her closely, thinking back to the people he's met. Much to his regret, nothing came up. "No, I don't."
"I see…" She leaned against the grimy wall, just enough to get a hold without ruining her uniform. "Sorry for being an ass today. I was just mad that you didn't remember me… but when you stood up for that guy I really understood you weren't doing it on purpose. You're still a cool guy after all these years, if not a bit childish."
"You were mad at me?" Luffy questioned. "Was that why you didn't tell me your name?"
"My name-" Nami immediately remembered their first encounter, at the beginning of the day. "Ha! Sorry again, it just kinda slipped out. Anyways, I promise I won't bother you again."
Before she could even move from her spot, Luffy stiffened up in confusion.
"What are you talking about? Aren't you gonna sit with us at lunch?"
"What?" Nami was taken aback, just a bit. "You still want me to sit with you after all the confusion?"
"You seem cool. I want you to sit with me and my friends, unless you're already sitting with other people." Luffy confidently said. "Also, you helped out when Koby was in trouble. Now come on, lunch is almost over."
As Luffy began heading back inside, Nami straightened up her posture. "Luffy!"
He turned back, giving her a respectful look. She still had something she wanted to get off her chest.
"...Do you want to know how I know you?"
He simply smiled back. "If I don't remember then that's that. Let's just…" He extended his hand. "Start from scratch! I'm Luffy!"
Nami hesitated for a moment, before accepting his hand back. "I'm Nami. Glad to finally meet you again."
Nami, age seven, hunched over against the park bench so that all she could see were her sandals. The rest of the world didn't really matter to her, so why should she look up to take in the view?
"You're in my spot!" A voice loudly called to her, jolting her from her mind. Looking up, an equally young boy in a Straw Hat angrily glared at her, with a few friends of similar ages right behind him.
"That's not how you're supposed to talk to a lady!" A girl with red and white hair said, as she grabbed the Straw Hat boy's ear.
"Well, what was he supposed to say?!" Another boy, with wet, black hair and freckles, responded to her in turn.
"Manners are key for a situation like this…" A blonde boy with a tattered top hat used a mocking classical tone on his friend. "But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't exhausted as well. The seat would be nice, miss."
Their comradery immediately shook Nami out of her headspace, and within a few seconds, she was down and out of the seat. She could barely even acknowledge them, though, too nervous to even give the simplest of responses.
"Oh, you don't have to listen to him!" The other girl spoke apologetically to Nami, pulling the Straw Hat boy over. "Apologize, Luffy!"
"I'm sorry…" Luffy pouted over the apology, obviously not believing he was in the wrong. But, once he looked over to see that clear, empty bench, he broke free of the girl's grasp and leapt up on top. "Thanks, orange-haired girl!" He called out, waving over to her from his spot.
Within a few more seconds, the other three friends joined him atop the large park bench, ecstatically leaping and laughing all along the way. All Nami could do was look away, uncomfortable with how loud and jovial they all were. It'd been a long time since she'd felt like she had anyone to be like that with, as much as she wanted to join them.
Maybe someday in the future, Nami wondered, she could have a group of friends just like them.
"So, this is Nami, everyone!" Luffy introduced Nami to the lunch table, where Zoro, Usopp, Koby, and now recently Sanji, all sat.
"Looks like I came back just in time…" Sanji muttered to himself, giving a quick glance over at Nami before politely bowing down to her and taking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss."
"I didn't know we were getting a clown for the table." Zoro joked, before taking a bite of his near-finished sandwich.
"Quiet, dumbass!" Sanji sniped back, causing even Usopp to shudder a bit.
"We already dealt with one fight today, guys… do you really want to start another one?!" Usopp pleaded with the two, who seemed to only get angrier with each other with just their stares towards each other.
"Are they always like this?" Koby asked, his glares towards them giving off the vibes that maybe he should just find his own table.
"Of course!" Luffy called back, a big smile on his face. "Isn't it fun?!"
Nami gave them all one more look over, before taking a seat next to Luffy. They certainly seemed to be a lot more carefree than her, but maybe… that wasn't so bad. Maybe it was the start of something nice, outside of everything else she had to deal with.
As for Luffy himself, he laughed and chatted with his friends until the bell finally rang for classes to start back up. Luffy only had one more class with Usopp and Nami each, and the final class was nothing Luffy would write home about… unless it was some sort of assignment he needed to do. He left fulfilled, and yet feared for his safety once he went back home to Garp and Ace. He did leave them muffinless, after all.
But at that moment, life was pretty good for the teenager with a large Straw Hat. Friends, action, drama, a new setting for his final steps to becoming a man… He was living the dream, to be sure.
BTS (Behind the Scenes) CH.1
For those who haven't read the original by Supreme-King, this was an adaptation of the first two chapters of the storyline. For the most part, what needed to be there stayed the same: we learned about Luffy, the other four OG Straw Hats, Robin, CP9 as the hall monitors, the principal, and some influential side characters. A lot to take in for one chapter, but I thought that, after shrinking the size of the Opening Ceremonies, that the two chapters would flow into each other much better than before.
What I think was the biggest change: Nami's character. In the original story, we spend a long time trying to understand why Nami's character is mad at Luffy, but she still shows up every now and then. I worried that, if I attempted to adapt the story with that plotline, I would make her too unlikable. So, I gave the audience a bit more to work with. She's known Luffy for a long time, but as you'd expect, Luffy can barely remember what he had for breakfast that morning. I hope you stick around to find out their full backstory, as there's much more to it this time around than the initial story!
Another big scene I added into this adaptation was a small character arc for Koby. Since this is our introduction to this version of Luffy, I needed to make clear where his similarities and where his differences from the Luffy we know are. And if Nami's character is an introduction to the changes made to him so that he can better handle high school drama, Koby shows that (for the most part) Luffy's spirit remains unchanged. It's a bit close to being just a rip-off of the storyline from the manga, but what makes Luffy special to Koby hasn't changed from the original story to this new high school setting. What better way to represent that then bringing in the character who was first won over by Luffy's spirit?