Luffy left Nami with her mother. He was no longer needed.
He gritted his teeth, upset. He hated that some people were that heartless. He would never let what happened to his family happen to Nami's. Or anyone if he could help it.
His anger faded to anticipation when he realised he was in for a beating from ace.
He rounded the corner to the alleyway that connected to the home he shared with eight others. The house was only really big enough for three, but the nine of them made it work.
It was the only way they could keep a roof over their heads.
Sure enough, ace waited there looking unhappy.
'Took you long enough. Care to explain?' He asked, raising an eyebrow.
'Sorry ace.' Luffy mumbled, reaching the step where his brother stood.
'What is it this time.' Ace questioned, his disapproval evident before he even knew what to disapprove of.
'A fight.' Luffy admitted, looking down.
'Seriously luffy? You couldn't go one day without causing trouble?' Ace calmed down, his gaze softening.
He knew he should give his brother a chance to explain, but was also aware that he wouldn't be angry afterwards. Luffy got into plenty of fights, sure, but always to defend someone who needed him.
'Go on.' Ace sighed, awaiting his explanation.
'Well this girl in my class was being mobbed by a bunch off assholes on her way home I walked past and saw that she was about to be punched, so I stepped in.' Luffy said obediently.
Ace nodded. 'Right. What did you do to him?'
'Well, he tried to stab me so I snapped his wrist and ran off with the girl.'
'Broken bones, huh? Well, I'll let you off the hook. You're not hurt are you?' His Brother asked giving, him a once over. Luffy shook his head.
From inside on the couch, Frankie laughed. Those two newbies sure were something.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Nami had nojiko drop her off at school on her way to work. She couldn't bring herself to make the journey alone.
She arrived right on the bell and hurried off to science.
Bell-mére had offered to let her stay home that day, but Nami opted out. She couldn't change what happened to her, but life must go on. Plus she was completely uninjured, so there was no reason to tarnish her perfect record.
Her English teacher, Mr gonfall, eyed her warily as she took her seat. Luffy turned from the seat in front of her to give her a large grin.
'Hey Nami!' He whispered. 'I was afraid you were to going to turn up.'
She gave him a weak smile. 'you can't get rid of me that easily.' She said, covering up her upset with an act. 'Oh, and I just wanted to say...'
'The two of you at the back, are you paying attention?' Mr gonfall asked, giving them a stern look.
'Yes sir!' They both replied.
Didn't get a chance to talk for the rest of that period, and they didn't share the next class.
Nami sat on her usual table with vivi, waiting for him to come to the door so she could deliver her message.
'Hey Nami, what are you looking at?' Vivi asked, catching her glances thrown at Zoro's table.
Robin dropped down beside them, pulling out a packed lunch. At the side of the food, Nami became aware of her hunger and got up to get her food from the canteen.
She did not get as far as the line. In a row, Absalom, arlong and Don Kreig stood before her.
'Hey there princess.' Kreig snickered, stepping forwards. 'Bet you missed us.'
Absalom stepped up with him. 'unfortunately, our little surprise guest got in the way of our chat yesterday. Our boss is currently getting his arm sorted out, but you only prolonged your fate, sweetie. Don't go thinking you've avoided it entirely.'
Are the two step forwards, cracking their knuckles. All around then, the cafeteria went silent.
Students started pulling out their phones.
Nami felt the panic Sweep back over her. She looked around, hoping to find someone who would help her.
Robin, Zoro and Sanji all got to their feet. The second they did, more of crocodiles men stepped out of the crowd and blocked their path.
Before anything could escalate on their side, Nami felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
she gasped, looking back to see a smiling face. Luffy. He looked up from her, his smile disappearing.
'Can i help you?' He asked, calmly staring down the now mortified trouble makers.
'Shit, it's the monster!' Arlong yelled, turning to retreat. The others followed.
Luffy turned his deadly gaze to the shocked group blocking Zoro's path. In an instant, they were gone.
'Assholes.' Luffy muttered, sticking his hands in his pockets. He turned to smile at Nami. 'Ignore them. People like that don't deserve the rank of human.'
Nami nodded, attempting to return the smile with a watery one of her own. He patted her shoulder before retracting his hand and wandering off to get more food.
Nami was not the only one who stared after him. The entire room was shocked, their jaws on the ground.
Eventually, people started whispering to the people around them, confirming what they just seen.
All of them were thinking one thing;
What happened to make crocodile scared of the new kid?
Robin ran up to Nami, concerned. The red head girl turned to her friend and fell into her embrace.
'You're alright Nami.' Robin assured her. 'There's no way we would have let them hurt you.'
'T-thank you Robin.' Nami stuttered.
Vivi appeared beside them, placing a gentle hand on Nani's back.
Meanwhile, Zoro was struggling to restrain Sanji, who was desperately trying to get to his 'maiden in need.'
Sorry, another pretty short and error filled chapter. Have a good day!