𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑡 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑒𝑡 ♥️ {Eustass Kid x Reader}

xi - Dodging Feelings

His entire demeanor changed at that question. He exhaled a long sigh before responding.

"Nope."

"Huh?"

He stood up to leave. "I'm not having this conversation right now birdie."

"Come on, it's a harmless question." I reached out for his arm.

"Birdie." He turned the corner, picking up his pace.

I grabbed his forearm, forcing him to look at me. "Ki–"

"(Y/N)." He snapped, a cold glare lining his features. I felt my heart drop as I heard him say my actual name. It was the 1st time he had ever used my real name. I let go of him, mumbling an apology as he walked away to some other corner of the library.

I guess it really did sting.

I felt bad for trying to push it. A few people gave me some stares as they filed into the library for study hall. Maybe they heard..

I quickly shuffled to a table by myself, pulling out some stuff to start working on that anatomy project. I maybe got 10 minutes of silent working before I heard someone's clothes crinkle softly beside me. I sighed heavily without looking up. I had skipped lunch & came to the library early so I wouldn't have to interact with anyone. It only worked halfway, but I did get about 20 minutes or so of peace before Kid came.

"Jeez, don't act so happy to see me."

My head snapped up at the voice, feeling a massive wave of relief as I saw Usopp's face. Finally, someone I actually wanted to see.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you right now." I smiled for the 1st time since I got to school this morning. Usopp had easily become my best friend after only the 1st week of camp. He was dependable, listened to me vent, & he didn't tease me every time Kid was brought into conversation.

"Of course you're happy to see me, I am the great drum captain Usopp after all." He put a hand to his chest, assuming a smug expression.

"Sanji would kill you if he heard you say that."

"Pssht, he's just jealous of my expert technique." He pulled out a pair of sticks from seemingly no where, doing some intricate stick trick on his leg.

Unfortunately for his claim, he lost his grip & sent one of the taped-up sticks rolling across the carpeted floors. The clack of the stick hitting the table before it fell attracted some disapproving looks.

I snickered to myself as I watched him scramble around under the table to reach for his runaway stick.

"Expert technique huh?"

"Yeah, yeah.." He put his sticks away sheepishly, "So why weren't you at lunch? Nami mentioned that the period before you got pissed off & punched Ace. What'd he say?"

"Ugh, Ace called me birdie in front of Nami & Robin.." I frowned at the memory. "They asked about the nickname; Ace tried to tell them the story, so I shut him up by slapping a hand over his big mouth.." My grip on my pencil tightened as I continued, "but Zoro didn't get the message & told them anyway. Then I just kinda... punched Ace."

"Why Ace then? Zoro was the one who said it."

Why did I hit Ace instead of Zoro? I mean it couldn't be because of..

"I don't want to talk about it."

I felt Usopp's gaze on me narrow, sensing my uncertainty. "Does it have to do with Kid?"