Chapter Two – Somewhere in the Middle of the Grand Line
In the blackness of dreams and sleep, a white light drifted into her sight; sunshine on the hot days of summer reflecting off of white curtains and clear windows, making the tangerine groves glow outside. A dry breeze made the thin curtains fly, never letting them fall completely straight.
"Nami!"
Her voice was so warm, so direct, a sound made only for her, saying her name…
…The second time her name was screamed…
…the curtains billowed like ghosts in the howling, freezing gale…
…the voice belonged to someone else; her name screamed over and over again – warmth and fear expressed in the one word. It's her; she recognised the second, echoing voice screaming her name in fear. Then it morphed into another voice entirely, a man's voice calling her name and that same fear became her own.
Nami awoke to confusion, curled up on her side, her face buried into the darkest nook of her bed away from the sunlight streaming in from the simple square window against the east wall.
Habitually, her arm shoots out to her right and immediately jars upon impact with the wall.
"Son of a—!" Nami yelps as she retracts her hand, her sleepy state not yet registering the pain. She sits up abruptly and feels a sharp impact on her head, "Ow!"
"What…?" Nami slowly manages to turn her head without too much pain. She blinks at the flat plank of wood above her, is that a shelf…?
Then it hits her with abrupt enlightenment. Oh yeah. We moved.
Now fully awake with a dull throbbing in her head and sore fingers, Nami could see her new room softly bathed in morning light. The window is somewhat dusty and several dust motes dance in the sunlight before slowly drifting down to the plain wooden floor. Her bed is simple – only just big enough to fit her somewhat tall frame – and covered with a tangle of mismatched blankets upon her erratic awakening. The walls are short and the ceiling low but both are clean save for a small mass of abandoned cobwebs in one corner. Three walls and the ceiling are painted in neutral colours and the remaining, far wall is, for some reason, in a light shade of green. It's faded over time and peeled a bit but overall not a bad colour. Nami suspects she might have hated it in its original form but likes its old, flaky appearance now. It looks like a soothing forest green in the light.
"Are you OK in there?" Nojiko yells from the small kitchen down the even smaller hallway. She could have spoken normally and Nami would have heard.
Last night, they'd had a bit of an argument after arriving to the house. It was a stressful day and Nojiko is normally very tolerant but had pointed out: "You promised me you wouldn't work for the first week until you settle in at school and make sure you catch up."
To which Nami had only replied, part-truthfully, "I wouldn't have gotten the job if I didn't."
It was part-truthful. Maybe she could have gotten the job without playing that card, but Nami hadn't wanted to admit she needed to work. She needed a way to feel as if she were useful instead of a burden to her sister. If she had to work a little harder, she'd do it.
Not that she'd said any of that. She'd switched roles with Nojiko and calmly bluffed her way out of her sister's annoyance. When she'd gone to bed, she felt too restless to sleep. It was as if too much had been left unsaid. Quickly though, the feeling had gave way to sleep and Nami gratefully welcomed it.
"Come and have breakfast before you're late!" Nojiko calls in the present.
"Yeah!" Nami replies and eases herself out of bed, running fingers through her hair. As she stands, she takes care to avoid the shelf, stacked precariously with heavy textbooks and atlases. The middle sags a little bit under the weight, so Nami relieves it of a few worn textbooks, shoving them into her bag. Apart from her books and sparse furniture, the room is basically bare. A small desk and chair are tucked in the corner under the nook with the cobwebs (at first the chair faced away from the door. As soon as she'd entered last night, Nami had turned the whole thing in the opposite direction, same with the bed) and a small wardrobe sits nearby against the wall. Apart from that, the room is starkly empty.
It's still nice, Nami reasons with herself, and it is better than she expected and definitely better than some other living conditions she and Nojiko beared through in the past years. At least in this two-bedroom flat, it is quiet and peaceful with no dud foster families to torment her. Small blessings.
Nami walks over to a box sitting next to the wardrobe and reached inside for the one possession she would never lose. In seeing her face, the only woman she had ever called 'Mum', Nami's face breaks into a sad smile.
"I'm going to school now. I love you," she murmurs. Then she carefully wraps the frame in its layers of bubble wrap and gently replaces it back inside the box among other meagre possessions.
Nojiko took the car to work where she waitressed at a local café. That left Nami with walking to school which she is perfectly happy with. Walking along the urban roads lined with huge, sweeping trees in some areas; Nami felt a sense of contentedness she'd missed feeling for some time. The rain had cleared overnight, but a faint cool air still wafts through the trees bringing with it the smell of cooking breakfast meals from nearby cafés as well as freshly brewed coffee, the lingering scent of rain and some flowery scent Nami couldn't identify naturally drifting from the trees and heavily-accented from open boutiques. Several cars move along the roads in orderly fashion and the streets are bustling with adults rushing to work. Nami could spot no other students wearing a uniform like hers – white shirt, black skirt, red military-style blazer jacket with gold trimming and tie.
Everyone else drives to school, she'd decided, or takes public transport.
Then, she finds herself walking in a familiar street.
"Nami!" Luffy's voice rings out, making Nami jump and the voice burst into laughter.
"Luffy!" Nami whirls around automatically; eyes narrowed but only meets the gaze of several surprised customers seated outside Makino's Café. She immediately backtracks, raising her hand in a gesture of apology and smiles in a way she hopes doesn't look suspicious.
"Am I hearing things—" she mutters to herself before Luffy's voice rings out again.
"Up here! Watch out!" A shadow suddenly falls over her.
"Huh— AH!" Nami looks up to see Luffy's lean form leap from a second-storey window. He sails through the air for a brief moment and lands on a simple railing protruding from the café, crouching low to maintain his balance. He grunts a little and shuffled to the edge before hopping off in front of her with a cheery smile and raised hand, "Yo!"
"The hell with 'yo'! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Nami yells, slapping his hand down. He didn't react in pain at all, merely retracting his arm with a laugh.
"I always come down that way; it's more fun," he explains, "Ace too, but he left already."
"Ace?" Nami suddenly takes notice of Luffy's attire. He has the white shirt on and black pants but opted out the jacket for a red vest. Both pieces of clothing covering his torso have the top buttons undone down to several centimetres below his collarbone. His straw hat still occupies the prime position atop his head. It tilts to the side when Luffy cocks his head, also recognising her uniform.
"You go to Grand Line Academy?" Nami exclaims at the same time Luffy also yells, "Awesome! You go to the Academy too!"
In her peripheral, Nami spies a figure leaving the building. She turns and watches a pretty, young woman with sleek green hair tucked under a kerchief serving coffee. At the sight of the pair, her expression turns to one of part exasperation and part curious interest, "Luffy! You're going to be late at this rate!"
"Luffy's got a new school friend, Makino!" the man she is serving laughs heartily, "And a pretty one at that!"
"Geez, Mayor…" Makino sighs and lifts the coffee pot, serving another woman near the edge of the railing before making her way over to the pair, "Good morning! Are you a friend of Luffy's? Oh?" she stops short and looks at her, her eyes wide and inquisitive, "You look very much like a woman who came in yesterday, only your hair is orange and long…"
"Nojiko? She's my sister," Nami replies, smiling, "It's nice to meet you, Makino. I'm Nami and, uh…" For the first time in a long while, Nami stumbles for words. Are we friends? Acquaintances? Those people that just up-and-down each other as they pass? What even is this?
"…I just met Luffy, and Ace, yesterday," she ends awkwardly, "I'm sorry for dragging them out yesterday. Are you their….?" She definitely looks too young to be Luffy's mother and has no resemblance whatsoever as a sister.
"Just a family friend," she answers easily, "They…" she looks over at Luffy who had shuffled back inside out of boredom and now fought with the 'Mayor' man over a breakfast muffin, and stifles a smile, "…have a unique family history and living situation. And don't worry about getting them out – they love exploring on their own usually. At least they had someone supervising them this time."
Nami watches as Luffy whines and tries to reach around for the food as the Mayor mock-yells and swats him away. Finally, as the Mayor is distracted, Luffy swoops in with the opposite hand and shoves the muffin in his mouth with a triumphant yell. She lifts a hand to hide her laughter as Makino starts forward, "Now, Luffy!" Luffy looks up, notices Nami and quickly swallows before his face extends in his signature wide grin.
"Nami! Do you want a muffin?" Luffy calls.
"Oh yes, how would you like one?" Makino abruptly turns back to Nami with a smile. She winks, "On the house of course." With a final glance between Luffy and Nami, she adds, "Feel free to come here anytime, Nami. I'm sure the boys would be happy to see you."
Grand Line Academy makes Nami choke on her muffin. Literally.
"IT'S HUGE!" she exclaims, the remainder of her blueberry muffin dropping out of her limp hand. Luffy descends and snatches it up like a hawk, chewing happily, his cheeks puffed out.
"Yeah," he simply replies casually mid-chew. Nami turns her jaw-dropped face to his for a second, uncomprehending of his casual manner towards this… this palace and then slowly turns back to face the building, wondering if she's actually hallucinating. She's not. If anything, the place looks even grander on the second viewing.
The Academy is a humongous structure, comprised of many smaller buildings. Everything looked beautiful in various hues of warm brown, tawny, sloped roofs that almost resembled pagoda roofs and huge, arched windows. There are pillars Nami could see, supporting the structures. The tops of the pillars ranges from plain capitals to ones that were elaborately decorated supporting what Nami assumes are the administrative offices or staffrooms. Large fields flank either side of the school with what seems to be the edges of sports fields visible if Nami peers far enough.
"What kind of school is this?" Nami drags Luffy aside, behind one stone pillar that holds the open, wrought-iron gates, "It looks like a palace! Or some vacation home! Are we lost?"
Luffy actually turns and squints at the building, humouring her for a second. Then he looks back at her, "Nope, still school. Pretty cool huh?"
"How much is my scholarship worth?" Nami mutters as she edges back to the gates, once again surveying the palace-like territory. She can only imagine royalty attending here, not even city kids, let alone herself originally from a tiny country town. Suddenly the uniform makes a lot of sense, "What are we supposed to be, soldiers of Buckingham Palace?" she takes the edge of her jacket and pulls it across her torso, looking at the gold accents and shoulder decoration.
"Pirates."
Nami looks up at Luffy, who had wandered in the gates and waited for her. He seems completely unbothered by his statement and unaffected by the sheer enormity of the territory. She follows him, "What? Pirates?"
"Yeah." Luffy sounds increasingly excited as he talks, "You know the story of Gol D. Roger, right?"
"Roger?" Nami frowns, finding the name familiar, "Uh…" It clicks and she blurts out, "The Pirate King?"
The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. The man had gained fame before Nami was born so she is only vaguely knowledgeable of him. She did know Roger was the leader of a huge gang – some claimed the mafia, although this was later proven to be incorrect – whose influence spread over the Grand Line region and beyond almost twenty five years ago. Finally, the government had apprehended him and he made a significant speech whilst in custody, claiming the hidden treasure of One Piece that would bestow upon the man who found it. The speech had urged the world into a frenzy and Nami remembered only blurry recollections of media reports raving about it in her childhood in foster care, as well as Roger's abrupt death in prison, the cause of which had never been brought to light.
'The Pirate Era'. The frenzy was so aptly named for Roger's gang, the infamous Roger Pirates that started it all.
It all started after that, Nami thought of Arlong's face, Arlong's voice calling her name in nightmares, Arlong's tight grip around her arm or neck and shudders in her jacket as the face morphs into something else. Arlong, like a predatory shark, hunting her; knowing where she is with the slightest scent of blood. The Pirate Era started this.
"Yeah, that's the one!" Luffy still talks in the present, oblivious to Nami's turmoil beside him, "Roger…" he pauses, fixing his hat as he walks, "… lots of people thought he was a bad guy and lots of people thought he was good too. But everyone knows him and listened to him. So lots of bad guys are trying to find One Piece, but lots of good guys are too. It became too much… too many people weren't going to school anymore and everyone was trying to find One Piece."
"The government intervened," Nami remembers now, the abrupt, global plan of the World Government to establish two humongous academies, one in the Grand Line region and the other in the New World region, "To try and establish order again… Grand Line Academy and New World Academy…" she couldn't believe the thought hadn't occurred to her until now, "But then… how did it even…?"
"It's been a long time," Luffy shrugs, "At first, it didn't work. Then, really strong people started to show up both in Pirate gangs and in the World Government. They were enough to scare people into coming here where it's safe. Or to get stronger before they go out again."
"This is what this is?" Nami cries, "A gang school?"
"Well, not really," Luffy replies, "It's a normal school – but that would be so cool! A gang school! But the Government still owns it so it's not like they encourage being in a gang. It's more like people come here for the safety of being in Government territory, the Government tries to brainwash them and everyone leaves fine either way. If they end up being in a gang anyway, people like Smoky catch them if they do bad stuff."
"Oh…" Nami sneaks a sideway glance at the boy who explains things so cheerily as they enter the beautiful marble office. Then she is temporarily distracted as she receives new class schedules and informative sheets as well as confirmation notes and fees she would have to give to Nojiko to sign later.
"Good luck," the lady whispers, smiling kindly at her as the last of the forms is exchanged. Nami nods with a tight smile, sealing the papers in her bag, all but the class schedule which she guesses would be stuck to her face for most of the day. At least she seems to have 'scored a free guide' as Nojiko put it. Luffy lingers by the door, his face upturned toward something as he waits for her. She allows a small smile as she directs her gaze back to the secretary.
"Don't hesitate to ask any questions or for directions," the lady says. She is dressed in a feminine, professional manner, with a punky edge in bold colours. Her short black hair is in a variant of the bob style, curling around her chin. 'Shakuyaku' her name tag reads. As she props her chin in her hand at her desk, Nami notes the lean muscle in her arms.
This lady works out, clearly…
"Most people call me Shakky," she says suddenly, a smile in her voice, "Monkey over there," she inclines her head at Luffy, "Did he explain our school's history yet?"
"It's too much to remember, Shakky!" Luffy overhears and immediately comes over to the desk and slams his palm on the surface. Shakky does not so much as blink, "It's making my head hurt!"
"Oh, but you explained it?" Shakky replies pleasantly, "Saves me one thing I have to do."
"Yeah," Luffy mock-sulks, making Shakky chuckle.
"How did you know I was walking to school with him?" Nami jerks a thumb at Luffy and Shakky only lazily turns her gaze.
"Woman's intuition. It didn't hurt that he told Rayleigh all about you either." Nami opens her mouth but Shakky cuts her off smoothly before she can say anything, "Now, do you have any questions before you start? I assume with knowledge of the Academy's history and purpose, you'll be able to make sense of…" she pauses and purses her lips, "…how things work around here. It might be a little different to your previous schools."
"How so? Are the classes… normal?" Nami suddenly has visions of something similar to army training or boot camp. Maybe that's why the fields are so huge… Or why there are pillars everywhere like the goddamn Roman Colosseum.
"Completely normal. Your teachers on the other hand," she motions for the schedule and Nami places it on her desk. Shakky's finger trails down the schedule as she surveys each name printed beneath the classes, "Hancock, Trafalgar, Doflamingo, Bartholomew, Mihawk…" she looks up, "Do these names sound familiar?"
It takes a second for the names to register. Then, judging from Luffy's apparent glee, Nami's face had contorted into something quite terrifying. When she spoke, her voice had dropped several octaves, as it always did when she was either angry or terrified. In this case being the latter.
"They are our teachers?" she stares intensely at Shakky who only shrugs and removes her finger, choosing to play with a stray pen, twirling it expertly between her fingers like, Nami can't help but notice, a knife. Nami abruptly pushes the thought from her mind and twists the paper back towards herself, trailing her finger down the abbreviated names: HNK, TFR, DMG, BTM, MHK…
The Shichibukai? Seriously?
Nami looks up, suddenly noticing the corkboard against the wall behind Shakky covered inch-by-inch in newspaper clippings, all seeming to be front-page headlines. 'GRAND LINE ACADEMY APPROVED…', 'SHICHIBUKAI CHOSEN TO BE…', 'THE END OF THE PIRATE ERA?', 'INFLUX OF YOUTHS IN SCHOOLS…' The clippings all appear to be from various dates and overlaps each other in an artfully messy collage. Nami studies the various headlines and notes a few tucked into the sides that appear to be smaller sections; those brief articles in the heart of newspapers: 'GARP YET TO CATCH FEMALE PIRATE SHA…', 'GARP ELUDED AGAIN' and 'FEMALE PIRATE ON THE RISE'. Shakky, meanwhile, twirls the fountain pen which has still yet to drop, its metal pointed tip glinting in the morning light streaming through the windows. Then she abruptly snaps her fingers, shooting the pen against the corkboard where it hits with a hard 'thunk' like a dart against a bullseye. It hit precisely above the word 'SHICHIBUKAI' printed in bold capital letters of one aged-looking clipping.
"Whoa, that's awesome Shakky! Teach me to do it!" Luffy yells, leaning half-over the desk.
Nami's breath caught in her throat at the stunt and her eye drops to Shakky's, conveying a silent question. Those headlines and her lean, toned form and no-nonsense attitude only adds fuel to the fire.
The woman in question only shrugs again, "I'm retired. Everyone on staff here is, or in alliance with the World Government. Or both, I guess." She leans down and opens a drawer, pulls out a slim pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She flicks one out, lights it and raises the cylinder to her lips, "The only way to control Pirates is with Pirates, after all." Her gaze flickers to those headlines at the side of the board and then to another, plain wooden door against the far wall with only a polished metal plaque engraved: 'SILVERS RAYLEIGH'. She takes a long drag and lets the cigarette dangle as she exhales.
"If history is anything to go by, anyway."
"Wanna come meet my friends?"
Nami is starting to get used to Luffy's blunt manner; as well as his erratically unpredictable personality, and his somehow knowing everybody in the Academy. Or at least, everybody knew him. Walking down the wide corridors, several people, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, or even personality acknowledges the boy somehow. Nami hears the most common way he was referred to – 'Straw Hat'.
She barely hears his question as a result, weaving between several people and avoiding any curious glances at the newcomer. Luffy strides ahead without reservation in a straight line as everyone makes way for him, seemingly oblivious to the environment.
"Which ones?" Nami remarks, dodging a particularly intimidating looking pair. They both only look warily at Luffy and move on without comment.
"Hm?" Luffy stops, allowing her to catch up, right in the current of people, "What do you mean?"
"You seem to know everyone here."
"Yeah, most of them," Luffy replies, "They're good guys. A little strange though," he laughs, "But funny so it's good. My crew have all our classes together, and you're with us too. By the way, do you want to join?"
"Huh?" Nami completely blanks at his question, another abrupt personality quirk of his.
"Join my crew!" he repeats, his face in a wide grin again. A grin, Nami thinks, she has seldom seen him go without even in her short time of knowing him.
She also notes that his voice is relatively loud and distinct. A voice that commands attention and authority beneath its childlike tone. Several heads turn their way in surprise and for a second, the entire corridor plunges into quiet. Not silence, but quiet. Low whispers and utterances spread across the suddenly too-small space like wildfire. The surrounding students stare with apprehension at her, some surreptitiously but others obviously, as if expecting her to do something insane that warranted Luffy asking such a thing. Even more people stare at Luffy, their eyes a mix ranging from shock to curiosity to exasperation. As usual, he ignores all of them, only looking expectantly at her with an open, curious face. Under his left eye is a scar Nami had never noticed before, probably due to his cheeks always pushing it up and away from her view when he smiles. He isn't now, and neither is she.
He's asking me to join a Pirate crew. He's the captain of a Pirate crew.
Immediately, all of her thoughts of content, comfort and unexplainable fondness for this strange boy shrivel up and dies inside her, the remains crushed under the memories from her past. Thoughts could be forgotten. Memories never were. When she exhales, it feels like her resolve that she inhales on the next breath. She is not nervous. She is never afraid of being put on the spot; over the years she'd just had to learn to take it and move on. This is no different.
With that thought, Nami looks up with a steely, level gaze straight into the eyes of a Pirate.
"No."
The sound comes out all wrong. It sounds broken, desperate, fearful, angry and obvious at that. But it is all the confident bluffer had to say.
Without registering the momentary surprised, disappointed look of the Pirate, Nami quickly walks past as fast as she could in the uniform's black boots, shaking out her long orange hair to create a familiar barrier between herself and everyone around her. Intentionally focussing on the path ahead, ignoring all the voices – most of all, his – and well aware she has no idea where the hell she is going, Nami keeps walking; wanting only to put as much distance between herself and him as possible.
She has no idea how she walks through the throngs of people with ease. Perhaps it is the nature of people to make way for people with an agenda.
No, people make way for other people like Luffy. They were only repelled by her and she let them be.
Whatever the reason, she soon finds herself alone, walking away from everyone.
Inexplicably, her fingers find the curved arch of her bangle somewhere around the end of the corridor and finds solace in knowing its presence; while the rest of her feels anger, naivety, anger at her naivety, fear, an odd sense of betrayal…
…and loneliness.
Nami's superpower, Nojiko and Nami's mother used to joke, is her sense of direction. No matter where she is, in whatever weather and even state of consciousness, Nami would never get lost. It had started when she was young on the afternoon she'd snuck off with a tangerine into the forests near her first home, trying to grow her own tangerine plant in secret. It hadn't worked – had been a huge failure in fact to even dig a hole – and Nami had found herself exploring the pretty forest instead. Eventually, her family noticed she was missing once it started getting dark. The police had even proposed searching the forest, until Nami herself wandered out of the trees finishing off the tangerine and asked what all the fuss was about.
The trait had only developed as she grew older. An intuition, almost, that guided her wherever she needed to be. In being a nomad, the skill is always useful to her.
Now, after wandering the seemingly identical corridors for the remainder of the short minutes before class, Nami's uncanny ability came through for her once again when she sees the open door a few metres away marked with her room number. Entering, it occurs to her brain too late that Luffy mentioned their classes were all the same.
She freezes as soon as she hears his laughter, reverberating in the room. A deeper, irritable voice complains, "Luffy, shut up will you? I'm trying to sleep!"
"You're going to sleep for the next class though!"
"Not at this rate!"
Luffy's answering laugh only receives an angry grumble but it sounds mocking this time, as if a smile is hiding behind it.
"Zoro, you really shouldn't sleep through every class for God's sake," a different male voice chips in. Another voice immediately agrees and also asks, "How are your wounds from last time?"
"Still hurts so I need to sleep it off," Zoro answers.
"THEN STAY HOME!" the same voice that asked the question yells.
They seem distracted enough… Nami inches out from where she'd backed up against the doorjamb to obscure her appearance. Wishing her hair didn't stand out so much, she quickly enters the room, avoiding anyone's eye.
"Oh, Nami!"
There is no God.
"Nami?" one of the other voices says, "Luffy, do you know her?"
"Yeah! Nami, come and sit with us!"
Raising her head, Nami surveys the company surrounding Luffy who sits cross-legged on the table. The next table over to the right is occupied by a green haired boy whose arms – very, very muscular arms made even more obvious from his short sleeved uniform shirt – are folded on the desk. His head rises slightly; impassive eye meeting hers. A scar runs down his left eye, sealing it closed.
To the upper left of this desk is occupied by a young looking boy with a childlike face and wide eyes. Locks of soft, yet shaggy brown hair sit atop his head. He still has a hint of baby fat, especially over his cheeks but is still lean in his limbs. He sort of avoids her eyes, seeming very shy, hiding behind his neighbour. However he actually sticks out more, as if doing the opposite of hiding. The neighbour he hides behind is a tanned boy with thick, unruly black hair beneath a white hat. His distinctive feature appears to be his nose which is longer than most. Like the others, his build is muscular beneath his uniform.
Although they all look a little surprised, save for Luffy, who, God help her, is waving his arm as if she can't already see him; none of them look particularly unfriendly. An odd combination, yes, but not unwelcoming.
Pirates…? Nami wonders, looking at them. After hearing their conversation, she can't bring herself to believe it.
A second has passed. The black-haired boy pipes up, "Come on. We're Luffy's crew. We won't bite." Then his face smiles; not to the extent of Luffy, but a regular, warm smile.
That word again – crew. Nami inhales, exhales, grips her bangle so tightly it almost leaves a print in her palm and a thought passes through her brain.
I can't make an enemy of any more Pirates.
Swallowing her pride, Nami releases her grip on her bangle, lifts her face in a practiced smile and makes her way over to the group, "Nice to meet you."