"Sooooo?" sang Nojiko.
"So?" Nami repeated questionably.
"So what do you think of Luffy? He's pretty nice, right?"
"...Yup."
"He's pretty cute too, right?"
Nami deadpanned. "You know, honestly I feel like I should be the one asking the questions here." she smirked.
She raised a brow quickly at Nami before turning her attention back to the road. "What do you mean?"
"So that 'super hot guy' you were talking about is Ace huh? You never told me you were in love with your best friend of all people."
Immediately she tensed. "Who? Me? Tch... I'm not in love."
"Sure, Nojiko, sure. Go ahead and lie straight to your little sister's face then." Nami playfully chastised.
The woman groaned in annoyance and felt her grip on the steering wheel tighten."Really? We're guilt tripping each other now?"
"Yup, we started doing that after apparently withholding important information from each other too." Nami giggled and playfully stuck her tongue out, humming the motion.
Hearing her little sister, she sighed deeply, knowing she wouldn't be dropping the subject."...Alright Nami, alright you win. Yes, I may or may not be... in love with Ace."
"Nojiko!" Nami scolded.
"Alright! I'm in love with him!"
For as long as Nami could remember, Nojiko was always there. She always did so much for her, whether it was being there for her emotionally, or cooking and working to help support them physically, she was always there. Nojiko was her rock and she looked up to her older sister in more ways than one.
So was Nami internally jumping for joy at this newfound revelation?
You bet she was!
Nojiko was honestly the most selfless person she knew and wished only nothing but happiness for her. She deserved the world.
"Since when?"
"Honestly, since day one."
Nami turned dramatically in her car seat to face her sister."You're telling me you've been in love with Ace for the past two years now and you guys are still just friends?"
"Well, when you put it that way..."
She raised a palm up to her forehead in utter disbelief."Nojiko! You both are obviously in love with each other! Why haven't you said anything to him?"
Nojiko's eyes widened slightly. "Wait, what? Ace just thinks of me as his best friend, he doesn't love me like that."
"What on earth makes you say that? Has he ever told you flat out that you both were just friends?"
"Well... I mean not necessarily but-"
"Ohhh, I see what's going on here. You both are too oblivious of each other's feelings. Got it." Nami spat, cutting Nojiko off.
"H-hold on a minute, you think Ace is in love with me?" she asked, hope bubbled in her chest which made it apparent in her tone.
Seriously?
Nami sweat dropped.
Nojiko was usually sharp and quick-witted when it came to the topic of love when it involved other people, but herself?
Man, was she as clueless as can be.
"Nojiko, seriously? At one point, it felt like it was only you and him in the room. It was something right out of a cliché chick flick."
Nojiko's lips parted, realization beginning to creep in. "Really?"
"Without a doubt. There's no way he would look at you and hug you the way he did if he didn't at least have feelings for you." Nami stated matter-of-factly.
Nojiko remained quiet for a while, pondering over Nami's observation."So you're going to eat lunch with Luffy and his friends tomorrow, right?" she asked now changing the subject.
Nami huffed, now sitting back in her seat before crossing her arms."I mean- I already told him I would so I guess I have no choice."
Nojiko smiled to herself. "You know, Luffy is a really sweet guy and his friends seem cool. I think it'll be good for you to meet new people and finally start living like a normal person."
"What do you mean like a normal person? I'm a normal person." She replied offended, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, unless you plan to marry a pile of maps. You have no friends or love life, Nami. You need to get out there."
Nami groaned, not really in the mood for being lectured.
She turned to look at her quickly once more. "Promise me you'll at least try and make an effort? Please? It's what Mom would want too."
Nami glanced over at her older sister, now feeling ridden with guilt. She knew Nojiko was worried about her inability to maintain a social life, but Nami preferred it that way. The less friends and love interests, the less heartbreak. The less heartbreak, the better.
Nami sighed. "Fine...I promise."
But she wanted to make the effort for her sister nevertheless.
_______
Nami closed her notebook and stuffed it inside her bag upon dismissal of the class. She may have just found her preferred subject of the day thus far: Geography.
Her teacher, Brook-Sensei, was a rather... interesting character as well.
At some point during the lecture, he went off on a tangent and began mumbling nonsense about panties, much to Nami's dismay, but found his material interesting either way when he wasn't talking about women's undergarments. The morning had come and go in a flash and the designated time to meet up with Luffy was approaching.
She found the freshman wing of the campus fairly quickly thanks to Nojiko's sad-looking makeshift map that Nami absolutely had to poke fun at (although now appreciated), but what Nojiko failed to draw her was a map to the West garden. She made her way outside and paced around, feeling completely lost.
The campus was huge and what made it worse was that there were barely any signs around, lacking all sense of guidance. She spun around in circles and bumped into someone, nearly tripping them in the process.
"Oh no, I'm sorry! Are you alright?"
She composed herself and turned to eye the poor guy. There, stood a young teenage-looking boy with light brown hair and doe-like eyes.
He smiled warmly. "No worries, I'm fine! But you seem a bit lost, are you looking for a particular classroom?"
"Oh, no I-"
Promise me you'll at least try and make an effort?
She hesitated. "...Actually, I'm looking for the West garden, do you happen to know where I could find it?"
"I'm headed there now myself, would you like to follow me?"
Nami nodded, feeling relieved. "That would be great."
"I'm Tony but my friends call me Chopper, and you?"
"A pleasure to meet you, Chopper, I'm Nami." she replied, trailing next to him. "You seem a bit young to be in college." she chuckled softly.
Chopper gave her a toothy grin. "Ah yes, well I graduated high school early and wanted to get a head start on my prerequisite classes since I'll be here a while. I'm studying medicine. My dream is to become a doctor!"
"Wow, that's amazing, Chopper! Sounds like I befriended a prodigy." she winked.
"Shut up! You don't have to compliment me! That doesn't make me happy at all!" he exclaimed while holding his face in a giddy fashion and twisting his upper torso about.
He seems pretty happy to me.
Nami laughed, feeling proud of herself for taking the initiative to make a new friend. They approached a paved pathway that led to the garden. She took in the beautiful and vividly lush green sight that was the home to several rose bushes. Two adjacent rows of cherry blossom trees also stood on each side of the exquisite scenery and a giant water fountain sat in the center, completing the breathtaking view.
"Here we are!" announced Chopper.
Nami scanned the grassy area and within the different groups of students that sat in bunches, her eyes immediately fell upon the raven-haired man and she suddenly felt her heart doing backflips when he turned to face them.
"Oi!" he shouted and began to wave from across the way, jolting up to the pair.
She grinned. "Hi, Luffy."
"Nami! You made it." he smiled widely. Luffy then proceeded to eye his teenage friend that was standing casually next to her. "Oi Chopper, you know Nami?"
Chopper casually scratched the nape of his neck with a smile. "We just met actually."
"Huh, small world." he snickered. "Come on, Nami. I want you to meet everyone else." he grabbed her hand and tugged her along with him to which she yelped, and he led the way to a very colorful group.
Nami felt a bit on edge. Her heart began to race as they approached curious glances. She was never really any good at making friends like Nojiko was and often times felt herself close up whenever she met new people, making it extremely strenuous to even carry a conversation. But she promised Nojiko she'd try.
Luffy plopped down on the blanket that they were all sitting on, tugging Nami down with him. "Everyone, this is Nami. She's Nojiko's sister. Nami, meet everyone."
She smiled a bit awkwardly and bowed slightly. "Hello, everyone."
"Hello, Nami. I'm Robin. It's a pleasure to meet you." said a woman with long raven hair. She was drop dead gorgeous, which made Nami all the more flustered.
"Hi Nami! The name's Usopp but you can call me King of Logue University. Just to quickly fill you in, I run this place and these are all my subordinates." he exclaimed, crossing his arms triumphantly with a toothy grin.
"Don't listen to him, he's an avid liar." said a girl with flowing blue hair, giggling at her long-nose friend's antics. "My name is Vivi, nice to meet you!"
"Vivi, that's harsh!" cried Usopp dramatically, making Nami giggle in return.
"Mademoiselle! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." said a man with blonde hair, as he delicately held her hand, now sitting up to prop himself on one leg. "My name is Sanji."
She laughed awkwardly. "Oh... well, nice to meet you, Sanji."
"You're scaring her, you dumbass lover boy." spat a man with green hair.
"What'd you say, moss-head??"
"You heard me!" he growled.
Chopper sweat dropped. "Don't worry, Zoro and Sanji are always like this."
Nami forced a small smile, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the exchange due to lack of human interaction lately. Yet, she found herself oddly comfortable at the same time. It's almost as if she had known them for an entire lifetime.
"Is today your first day here, Nami?" asked Robin.
She nodded. "It is, and it's been really great so far. The lesson plans are much more structured and interesting than back where I'm from."
Luffy leaned back with his arms, the tips of his fingers on his right hand, gently brushed against Nami's left. Nami's breath hitched and she subtly peeked down at their hands before turning her attention to him. Luffy didn't seem to pull his hand away, instead he merely gazed at her with a small grin playing at his lips, seeming completely unbothered by the sudden contact.
"What are you majoring in?" asked the long-nosed man.
"I- Uh.. Cartography." she stammered, feeling a bit flustered by the warmth of Luffy's fingers. "What about you all?"
"I'm majoring in Politics." replied Vivi.
"Archeology for me." said Robin.
"I'm majoring in Culinary Arts." responded Sanji, before lighting up a cigarette, and yes, you can apparently smoke on campus.
"My major is in Engineering." said Usopp.
"That's amazing. Those are all very interesting majors. Chopper, I know you're studying medicine. What about you both?" she asked in Luffy and Zoro's direction.
"Kendo for me, I'm here on a full scholarship." said Zoro.
"That's so cool! And you, Luffy?" she turned her head to meet his glance.
"Criminology! I'm gonna-"
"-Help send every single bad guys ass to jail." the rest of the group chimed in robotically in unison which caused Nami to suddenly erupt into a fit of laughter.
She wiped a tear from her duct due to the intense outburst. "Guess he says that a lot?"
Usopp rolled his eyes."You have no idea."
Luffy's lips twisted into a pout. "Stop making fun of me, you guys!"
Nami's smile grew wider, taking in the sight before her.
"Here, Nami!" she was handed a cell phone by Vivi before she continued. "Type your number in so I can send it to the group chat and I'll add you in."
"Okay, sure." Nami smiled, and did as she was told. She wasn't expecting to blend in so well with Luffy's friends. She found herself feeling thankful that she listened to Nojiko and made an effort to join them today. She really did feel welcomed by them. Friendship was definitely something she'd have to get used to but everyone here made it so easy.
"Yoooohooooo, Luffy!"
A female's voice suddenly called out from across the garden and there, stood a petite girl with short blonde hair, waving erratically in their direction.
Luffy's aura seemed to have changed completely. His lips formed into a thin line and he raked his fingers through his hair. "I'll be right back." he announced, standing from his crisscross position on the blanket to go speak with her.
After ensuring Luffy was far enough away so that he couldn't hear them, Usopp scoffed. "Luffy is too nice for his own good."
"Tell me about it." Zoro chimed in.
Nami eyed Luffy's retreating figure and saw the blonde girl throw herself at him. Luffy patted her back in a friendly manner and you could tell he seemed a bit uncomfortable. She really didn't want to pry but curiosity always got the better of her in situations like these.
Observing them carefully, Nami felt her chest sting for some odd reason. "Is that Luffy's girlfriend?" she asked.
Usopp snickered. "She wishes."
"That's Carrot. She's a freshman here and transferred in just like you. Of course, Luffy being the empathetic person he is, showed her the ropes out of kindness but it looks like she's taken quite a liking to him." Robin added.
Vivi held a hand against her lips to hold back her laughter as she eyed the pair. Luffy was trying to peel her off of him but Carrot had other ideas. "She's a nice girl, but she just can't take 'no' for an answer." said Vivi.
Feeling awkward, Nami turned her attention away from the pair. Why did she even care anyway? She should have almost expected Luffy to have a girlfriend seeing as how he was a nice guy, not to mention he was super cute and funny too. Plus, Nami couldn't afford to let herself get distracted so she decided to drop the subject, not wanting to invest any more effort into a pointless conversation.
Luffy eventually made his way back to the bunch and plopped back down on the blanket with a groan.
Chopper patted Luffy's shoulder amicably, trying his best to calm him down. "At least it went better than last time."
"Yeah, yeah." he mumbled dismissively and shuddered, remembering how it took Zoro and Sanji to pry her off of him. "Anyways" he said now changing the subject, "Are any of you good at Calculus?"
Half the group broke out into laughter.
"Count me out." said Usopp.
"Same." Sanji chimed in.
"Why do you ask, Luffy?" Vivi asked.
Luffy scratched the nape of his neck with furrowed brows."If I don't pass this next exam on Friday, my grade's gonna drop and I just don't get all this math stuff."
"I would help you study, Luffy, but my schedule is pretty slammed this week." added Robin.
"Yeah, same here." Vivi and Chopper mused simultaneously.
Nami was passing calculus with flying colors. She had to if she wanted to become a cartographer so math was pretty much second nature to her.
But helping Luffy?
...No, she couldn't afford any more distractions. However, before her brain was even able to send signals to her mouth to stay shut, the orange-haired girl quickly spoke.
"I can help you study if you want, Luffy."
Good going, Nami.
He was literally beaming due to her proposal. "Really?!"
Despite the fact that she was internally scolding herself, Nami smiled."Yeah, why not. I'm pretty good at Calculus and I have some free time."
"You're a lifesaver, Nami!"
"It's nothing really." she mumbled, doing her best to tamper down the blush that enveloped her face.
Luffy caught her flustered expression and snickered a bit. "Meet me back here after classes are over. I can drive us back to my place."
She nodded absentmindedly, failing to see the playfully raised brows and smirks within the group due to his bright smile and intense onyx orbs that left her inevitably bubbly inside.
I mean, it's just studying. How bad could it be?
To be continued