Chapter 2
Behind the shadows
Cold was expensive, so Nami loved the heat; she never had to spend much money on lodging and clothing when the weather was warm. However, on the first day on Dawn Island, she began to question her own preferences.
The heat had never bothered her when she traveled alone to and fro mapping islands and stealing from pirates, but Luffy's arms were warm, and he was a very clingy person. Nami found that kind of closeness strange and uncomfortable, but she couldn't blame him. The boy spoke more through gestures than words, and those touches and grips seemed to come naturally to him.
This newfound friendship, which she had accepted without really understanding why and now attributed to the idea of using Luffy to map the island faster, felt odd. On the first day, he had clung to her while they went from place to place as he showed her the points of interest in his village. These turned out to be; a bird's nest that had just laid eggs, the mayor's house—where they were kicked out with shouting as soon as Luffy broke one of the flowerpots by the entrance—and Makino's bar, where a kind woman, worried about the bruises on her face, offered her a glass of juice while Luffy finished off the bar's milk supply.
Nervously, Nami fingered the sad coins rolling around in the inner pocket of her skirt, barely touching each other. But Makino had kindly invited them both, following Luffy's cheerful order to put both their expenses on his treasure tab.
That night, they parted ways before dinner after spending the afternoon walking along the coast. Luffy had drawn pictures of fish, strange mermaids, and tangerines after she told him she liked them. To make up for lost time with Luffy, Nami forced herself to stay up well into the night, drawing two or three coves in the surrounding area that had remained blank on her map because of the boy's antics and laughter.
The second day wasn't much more productive. Nami woke up with aching bones from the hard tree branch where she had made her shelter and a swollen face from the night's cold, which quickly turned into oppressive heat.
Her poorly healed fingers were so swollen that it was difficult to hold the pen, though she forced herself to keep drawing.
Luffy arrived, happily repeating her name, his smile promising more games and laughter. Nami began to feel overwhelmed by noon when she saw how little progress she'd made on the nearly blank sheet of paper.
Arlong's teeth mingled with her midday stomach pain—nerves made her hungry, and with the few coins she had, she could only afford one meal a day. She liked eating at night when no one would judge her half-finished can of lentils or her long bites on the tiny legumes. Biting them helped her check the real condition of her loose teeth.
"Nami, Nami, Nami, Nami..."
Luffy's voice made her grip the pencil harder as they stood, looking out at the cape where the boy had brought her. The windmill blades turned nearby, but far enough away that the echo of her name only reached her.
"Nami, Nami, Na..."
Luffy suddenly fell silent when she confronted him. Her skin burned, and her ears rang from the frustration of being interrupted while she worked.
"What?" she barely raised her voice, but her tone was enough to make Luffy quiet for more than two seconds.
"Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten anything since you got up, and my stomach is already rumbling."
Her anger dissipated in an instant. It felt strange for someone to talk to her about her habits. It was true that, when she was in Cocoyashi, Nojiko would scold her if she skipped meals or lost weight, but she spent so little time at home lately that her sister barely had a chance to tell her off. The truth was, she hadn't brought much money and didn't know how long she would stay on Dawn Island, so she needed to save. She couldn't spend more than she would earn from this trip without profit. There were no pirates here to rob.
"I'm not hungry. If you want, go eat and leave me to work in peace."
He pouted, grumbling. Reluctantly, he clung to Nami's arm, looking at her with pleading, puppy-dog eyes.
"Yesterday, you didn't come with me to eat, and friends eat together. Besides, Ace is waiting for me—we're supposed to eat with Makino."
Nami tilted her head, trying to convey through a look all the exasperation she couldn't put into words.
"Luffy, we barely know each other. I'm not going to eat with people who know you and who made plans to eat with you, not me."
He grumbled under his breath, still hanging onto her arm. A tingling sensation began to spread through her limbs from the strange weight she bore, and she wondered if Luffy would ever tire of touching her, or if he would feel disgusted when she started to sweat.
"But we're friends."
"For two days! I don't know who Ace is. Makino and he will probably get mad when they see you show up with me."
"Why would they get mad about eating with my friend? You're kind of weird, Nami."
The boy's strange logic made her snort as she freed herself from his grip. It was starting to make her dizzy that this stranger was treating her like they had known each other forever. She always walked on eggshells around people, and Luffy trampled through with his carefree philosophy.
"You're the weird one!"
He narrowed his eyes, and Nami felt her cheeks flush with anger at the evident doubt on her new friend's face.
"Fine, but can we go eat now? It's not fun playing with maps when my stomach hurts."
She huffed.
"I'm not hungry."
Unfortunately for Nami, her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl, causing Luffy to burst into his characteristic laugh.
"Come on, let's eat. Makino makes delicious food. I bet Ace is already mad because I'm late. He gets really worked up when I'm late."
Luffy's comment sent a shiver down her spine as he dragged her towards the windmills.
Nami had known from the start that this friendship wasn't a good idea. She needed Luffy to map the island quickly, and if he was going to waste her time, it was best to put an end to this charade sooner rather than later. And from what she could see, he wasn't helping her, only slowing down her work. She didn't have friends, didn't want them, and didn't need them. She shouldn't have let him keep talking when she first saw him in the tree, his hands on her things. She should have known he would cause trouble.
The tiny weight of the coins in her pocket anchored her to the ground. Her cheeks heated with the shame of such a small weight and such a big appetite.
"I told you, I'm not hungry!" Her stomach betrayed her again.
Luffy pulled her towards the windmills once more.
"Your belly doesn't talk when it's full."
"Mine's very chatty."
He squinted at her lie as they both struggled to go in different directions.
"Why do you want to go hungry?"
"I'm not hungry!"
Another growl interrupted the conversation.
"Liar."
"Annoying."
Hungry and fed up, Nami finally exploded, overwhelmed by her emotions.
"Leave me alone! I have to keep working, and I'm not hungry! Go eat with your family, I'll stay here."
Anger grew in her chest like a storm cloud, and the bigger it got, the more lightning bolts it would throw. Luffy, standing in front of her, seemed to grow in size too as they stood there, motionless, each determined to stick to their position.
In the end, it was Nami who had to look away, unable to bear the weight of the reproach in those big eyes. She sat cross-legged on the ground, the paper on her knees, pencil clutched between her fingers. Her hair fell over her eyes, as if waiting for that curtain to separate her from the boy who watched her, tormented, standing to her right.
"My brother is waiting for me."
She nodded as she drew an excessively straight line along the shape of the cape.
"Okay."
"I'll come back here later."
"Okay."
Silence reigned for a while.
"Are you going to leave, or are you waiting for me to finish?"
Nami forced herself to open her mouth and speak. Lies wrapped around her tongue like sugar; they had always been her allies.
"No, we'll meet back here."
The boy's excitement stung the back of her neck as he jumped and laughed, but she wasn't going to back down now. One more mistake in her work for Arlong and the consequences would be brutal. She couldn't afford to lose more time; the beatings were bearable, but not the lost time. And Nami knew she had done worse things than lie to a kid.
"See you later, then! I'll bring you something to eat, and you can meet Ace. He's a bit grumpy—you'll probably like him."
"See you later," she confirmed with a smile.
She didn't like sad goodbyes, and if the boy was going to forget her soon, she preferred his last memory of her to be cheerful.
Luffy returned the smile with enthusiasm, his teeth reflecting the joy of their next meeting. By the time he disappeared over the hill, Nami was already on her feet. She walked in the opposite direction without looking back even once.
It had been an entertaining summer dream. Being friends with a boy and running along the beach while Luffy laughed, and for a few seconds, Nami forgot her troubles. But it had been nothing more than that, a foolish and childish summer dream.