The World Ends With You

Chapter 10: Moments Before

STUDENTS FROM THEIR year group were in queues on the field. It was sports day and they had the entire day dedicated to athletics, which Zoro kind of hated from the start until he found out about the swordsmanship booths they were holding. And he was long gone.

Each of the 'Strawhats' had a sport of their liking except for Luffy who couldn't put a finger on anything, at all. He should've gone to his basketball team practice but he couldn't get bothered. As of the moment he was getting bored watching the swim team do their sets at the school swimming pool.

"How did I go?" Nami rose from the pool ladder with water dripping down her curves. She was trying to catch her breath as she also removed the pair of goggles that suffocated her head but left the swim cap on. Also, she was glad that their hours of cleaning the pool was worth it.

It was their team captain who spoke, for he was the one recording the time. "Three milliseconds less than your PB. Well done!"

Nami chuckled and, at the same time, panted as she heard the great news of her beating her personal best. She specialised freestyle and the fact that she had beaten her previous record meant she was still improving. Her hand reached upwards to remove her cap, which then revealed her orange hair pulled back by a braid; she wouldn't be able to fit that whole lot of hair if it wasn't tied one way or another.

At the benches, Luffy blinked out of curiosity why Nami was not moving from her spot. He thought she was in trouble or something and he already prepared to break in the pool area but when she turned around, he noticed the big smile on her face and, as she faced towards his direction, a bright red tint on her cheeks. Nami suddenly stiffened upon setting her sight on Luffy.

"Water break," their coach cried and every swimmer who were about to dive onto the water breathed in relief. Nami, on the other hand, had her breathings constricted for some reason.

"So you plan on staying here for two more hours?" she asked Luffy who was looking at the pool.

"You're a fast swimmer," he ignored her question, which made her frown a bit. "you think I can do that, too?"

"Luffy, you can't even swim." Nami laughed and turned fully to him. "Remember, you sink like a hammer."

It's true. Luffy, Chopper, Robin, and Brook couldn't swim. When in presence of a body of water, they simply sink to the bottom like a hammer; one of the reasons why their 'crew' rarely go to resorts. The last time they did, Luffy literally drowned and Chopper and Brook came to his rescue; now that's three casualties instead of a mere single one.

"But if I can, you think I can beat you?"

Nami smiled, "Well...I ain't the fastest swimmer on the team so yea, maybe." she gulped after a few moments of silence, wrying her braided hair. Luffy watched her as she did that, his eyes intently looking over her. Nami felt his gaze and tensed up, causing her to swallow another lump of saliva before speaking. "Uhh...you can wait for me here if you'd like. We only have, like, twenty minutes left."

"Okay!"

===

"Luffy, can you carry my bag please?"

NAMI GRABBED HER slides from the rack just before the gate to the pool. She slid a foot in each one before rubbing her towel on her hair to dry it up a few notches while she lifted her bag for Luffy to hold for her. And he was reluctantly doing it.

"Jeez, why can't you do it yourself..." Luffy pouted, earning a smack at the back of the head from his friend.

"I'm doing something here, can't you see? And besides, makes sense if you carry my stuff instead of standing around just waiting for me, yea?"

A few of her teammates came out of the gate, looking at the orange haired girl with the raven haired bloke. One of them called out, "Ooh Nami! You didn't tell me you're with someone."

Nami then blushed profusely, "Just a friend. Please."

"Well...whatever you say~"

As they walked away from them, Luffy tilted his head at Nami. "Can you hurry up?"

The swimmer bit her lip and glanced at him for a while before snatching her own bag off his shoulder  which caused his white sport shirt to wrinkle. Luffy straightened the crease as he followed Nami in front of him. She was wearing the same shirt, since it was part of their uniform, but instead of the regulatory burgundy shorts, Nami sported a black, extra-short ones. She hated wearing runny clothing after swimming since doing so would be super uncomfortable.

Girls had their limbs exposed, in contrast to boys who had sleeves on their shirts, but they also have the same sports jacket coloured in black and burgundy (that's a few shades lighter than the shorts). Nami always wore her jacket zipped up, but as of the moment she had it open at the front. Same as Luffy.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked her once they made it inside the campus.

Nami, for a moment, was confused at what he had just said until she looked down to her legs. "That's sexual harassment."

"What?" Luffy raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what she was talking about but he recalled someone saying the exact same phrase to somebody else two years ago. "You sound like that woman from Franky's town."

Of course, Nami who he was pertaining to. An image of a lady wearing a black minidress and a pair of glasses popped in her head, with bubbles to match in the background. "You mean Kalifa?"

"Yea that! How come you still remember her?"

"Well I did beat her up, didn't I?"

"You did?"

She sighed. "Don't you ever take note of what I do? Even sometimes?"

"Why would I do that? That's creepy,"

They chuckled like little children, which Nami liked a lot to the point she actually forgot where they were at that moment. The next thing she knew was her foot sliding and she tripping herself, making Luffy reflexively swerve an arm around her waist with one hand instinctively clutching his hat. She felt her cheeks warm up as she realised his hand was.

And he didn't even bother to remove it. Even if his coach had managed to sniff him out inside the campus. Luffy and Nami had both turned to the direction where a voice was calling Luffy's full name, seeing a bulky man in sweatpants. Nami winced as she tried reaching for Luffy's arm around her but she couldn't move. A part of her was honestly enjoying it.

"Skipping practice to hangout with your girlfriend?"

Luffy, as he raised an eyebrow confusingly and turned to Nami, subconsciously pulled her more towards him. He could see her evident red face up close though he was not sure why she was acting that way; for a second he thought he was looking at the Pirate Empress.

Their faces were inches away from touching as the coach cleared his throat. It was Nami's cue to snap out of her trance to initiatively move away from Luffy's arm.

"Uhh...we're not– I'm not his girlfriend."

"What are you saying?" the raven haired boy asked her while his arm returned to its normal place on his side. "You're my girlfriend right?"

Again, the orange haired girl blushed once more. "No, Luffy, I'm not your girlfriend...well I am, but with a space in the middle: girl friend. A friend that is a girl."

"It's literally the same thing...?"

But before Nami could answer, the coach had grabbed Luffy's shirt and dragged him towards the stadium where the rest of the team was practising. Of course. And the fact that there was almost nobody around inside the school meant that they have gathered somewhere which, as of the moment, was in the sports stadium.