Some time had passed and things had gotten a little weird. I felt like Luffy was avoiding me for the last couple days. I knew I yelled at him, but since our conversation after that, I thought he had moved on. But maybe I was mistaken and he was still pretty bothered by it.
Now, it seemed every time I entered a room with Luffy, he would find a way to slip out. I would think I was overreacting but I swore he even stopped stealing food off of my plate. And that right there was some hard evidence in my book.
We were planning to dock at another small island for some supplies again and I believed this would be a great time to find something to give to Luffy. It was time to seek out a truce with Zoro.
I found him snoring away in the crow's nest as usual. I tapped him with my foot. "Oi, get up. I need your help".
"What do you want?" He said, peeking before shutting his eye again.
"Luffy's been acting weird and avoiding me. I wanna get him something to try and break the ice. I need help!" I said urgently.
"Don't get your panties in a twist. You don't need to get him a present. Just ask him to go with you and he will. Then get him something he likes. Food works."
"You know for a fact that the first thing luffy usually does is run off when we land. What makes you think he will stay behind to hang with me?"
"He will. That's why."
I took a deep breath in. "Why won't you just come with me and help?"
"Cause I'm sleeping, that's why. Quit being a chicken-shit."
I puffed out my cheeks angrily. This is not what I wanted to do. I angrily skirted down the ladder, then strode down the stairs in a huff, only to slam right into Luffy. I staggered backward and felt a hand at the small of my back. I looked up and blushed.
"Oops. S-sorry..." I stammered. Luffy looked at me and then looked away quickly.
"It's ok. 'S my fault. I gotta-"
"- Hold on just one second!" I said, grasping Luffy's face between my hands. His cheeks smushed, making his lips pucker a little like a fish. "You've been acting like this for days. Are you still mad at me?"
"Wha? Nwoo! I'm nyat mahd ad yew!" I released his face.
"Then why? No... you know what?! Then come out to town with me!" I declared.
"Awe, but I was gonna—"
"— nope! I don't care! You owe me for how you've been acting."
"I'm the Captain! I do what I want!"
"You don't want to hang out with me?"
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Did she really just tell him he owed her? Righteous indignation built inside and just kind of burst out in that moment.
"I'm the captain! I do what I want!" He said, hands balled up in fists, ready for the verbal sparring match that would come next. But, much to his dismay, his words backfired as Misaki's shoulders slumped, her face falling.
"You don't want to hang out with me?" She whimpered, her bottom lip pooching out, despite her efforts to stop it. He had been avoiding her so much, maybe he was sending out the wrong message... She looked so dejected that it made Luffy's heart ache. What was he thinking?
"N-no! You got it all wrong! Of course I want to hang out with you!" This would make it a little hard to get her a present, but he definitely didn't want her to think he didn't want to hang out with her.
Misaki's bottom lip trembled a little. "Just not today?" She looked like she was fighting back tears. He really didn't think about how he had been making her feel the last few days. Mild panic set in.
"No, definitely today! I always want to hang out with you M'! I'm sorry! Let's go through town today. Together! I want to, Misaki!"
Misaki pursed her lips. "Ok..."
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So now I've gotten a pity invite to join Luffy through town. Great. I leaned over the railing, looking out to the island we were about to land at. The sun was setting, throwing out some glorious colors. I felt a tap on the small of my back as Luffy joined me. He leaned his arms on the rail and smiled his big sunshine smile at me, making my heart skip a beat. I felt like it had been so long since I had gotten a genuine smile from him. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.
When we docked, Luffy picked me up before I could even react and leapt into the air, yelling "YAHOOOOO!" This is NOT what I had in mind!
He got me off the docks before setting me down. My heart was in my throat and my stomach was in knots already. Not getting any attention from Luffy for a while meant that I was no longer used to even getting looked at, let alone being picked up. Luffy laughed.
"You said you wanted to come with me, so we go at my pace!" Good Lord, what was I thinking?
Luffy grabbed my hand and then suddenly let go, blushing. I blinked at him, my face burning hot. Did he just grab my hand? My heart was hammering in my chest. Normally, he would have grabbed me by the wrist.
Luffy cleared his throat, then actively picked up my hand again, squeezing it gently. He smiled, still blushing and turned to lead me through the crowd of merchants. As we snaked through the crowd, the only thing going through my head was the fact that Luffy was holding my hand. My chest was starting to hurt by how hard my heart was pounding away. I felt our pace begin to slow as we got to the food market. Ahhh. That explains a lot.
I worked to catch up so I could actually walk side by side with him. I watched his face as he took in all the smells of the market. Admittedly, the precooked foods smelled amazing. Nothing would be quite as good as Sanji's cooking, but barbecue was good no matter what.
"What tickles your fancy, Luffy? I'll get whatever you think looks the best." I said, smiling. Luffy's head snapped to look back at me.
"Are you sure, Misaki? You don't have to!"
"I want to!"
"Well in that case..." Luffy and I walked through, still holding hands, carefully stopping at each kiosk before landing on the big bone stuffed chicken drumsticks. That was it. I saw the stars in his eyes.
"Two please!" I always wanted to try one of these. We both munched on our meat on the bone, still holding hands, while laughing and chatting about the scenes going on around the town. Luffy finished long before I did, and I ended up relinquishing the second half of mine just so I could see him at his absolute happiest.
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"Misaki, you really are the best, ya know?" It was at this moment that Luffy really wanted to kiss her, but something told him that she may not have appreciated him kissing her right after stuffing his face. He opted for a hug instead, making her giggle and his heart skip a beat.
They stopped at a local bathroom where they could rinse their hands off. When they met back up, Luffy unconsciously reached for her hand again. This time, instead of getting startled by it, he squeezed tighter, despite his heart feeling like it was going to explode out of his chest. He hoped this was ok. She didn't stop him, but her face was so red. He hoped she wasn't embarrassed, smiling at her reassuringly as they walked.
Luffy still had a goal here. He planned to walk through the rest of town until he found something to get for her. She was still wearing the scarf he gave her, but he wanted to get her something else as a way to get her attention. And maybe get the timing right this time. It didn't help that his heart was in his throat while he held her hand though. Spending all this time avoiding her while looking for the right moment unfamiliarized himself with her, and made it harder to handle even looking at her without bursting at the seams.
As he thought about this, he felt Misaki let go of his hand. What? Then an arm suddenly wrapped around his, pulling him a little off balance, as Misaki pointed with her other hand. Luffy followed her finger to a very pretty display of lights running down a large section of the town, turning on as the last of light faded from the sun. He was more charmed by her excited reaction than by the lights themselves, but played along in her enjoyment.
They came upon this huge fountain. The lights refracted off the water and danced around like something he had never seen before. Misaki pulled him to a bench to sit and look at it for a minute. Luffy couldn't tear his eyes away from Misaki in this moment. The overwhelming joy and freedom in her eyes made his heart swell.
Wait, was this is it? Was this what good timing was? They were holding hands, with something really pretty right in front of them — and all he could look at was her. If only she would look back at him. He watched as her eyes darted and twinkled around the dancing lights. It was like her eyes were shimmering, the lights refracting off of them in a way that made his heart skip a beat. Her mouth was open with a smile that could light an entire block. He swallowed and squeezed her hand. She looked back at him with this almost childish delight.
Oh shit. She was looking at him now. He gulped, blushing harder than he expected he would. Even his ears were burning. And his heart was hammering so hard that it was all he could hear. She sat there, smiling at him, blushing ever so slightly. How can someone look this perfect? He leaned forward, beginning to close the distance between them.
"Misaki?" He questioned, feeling like his heart was choking him. Her lips parted a little, her head tilting just ever so slightly. Oh God damn it. He suddenly began trembling. Oh no no nope. This is not the right time. Luffy sat up straight, opening his mouth to try to excuse his shaking, but nothing came out. For the first time in his life, Luffy was starstruck. Speechless.
He got up, quick and suddenly. "Wait right there!" He said as he leapt away from her, leaving her completely confused.
That was NOT supposed to happen. He just left her there! Luffy took a moment to breathe and get his composure. He grabbed at his chest, trying to quiet down his heart, which was thudding wildly. His throat was so dry, and he felt clammy. Why was this so hard? That was the perfect moment and he just ran away like a coward. He hated feeling like this. He thought holding hands was hard on him... but this? How did anybody ever do this mushy stuff?! This was way harder than fighting. Damn, he ought to get back to her.
And in that moment, he saw it. The thing he needed to get. It was perfect. Sorry Misaki. Please wait just one more minute.
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It felt like an eternity had passed but you sat there all the same, frozen. That was weird. Everything was so great, so beautiful, and then Luffy just had to go and be weird. I sighed. It's like he could tell what I was thinking and literally noped out of there. I put my head in my hands. What is WRONG with me?! I just wanted to cry. I was so overwhelmed with emotions. I thought about how luffy started shaking. Today was turning out to be too perfect.
"Misakiiii" I heard Luffy say my name in a singsong voice. I left my head in my hands, managing to squeeze out a "hm?"
"Well, I wanted to um... Misaki? What's wrong? Why aren't you looking?" I didn't respond. I didn't want him to know I was crying. It was stupid anyways. I shouldn't be crying. I had such a good time so far. I was just... so.... Frustrated.
I felt his hands on mine, pulling them away from my face. Luffy was kneeling in front of me, looking up at me. The moment he saw the tears in my eyes I saw his face drop and felt him throw his arms around me.
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"Oh no, Misaki!" He said as he threw his arms around her head, clutching her to his chest. He was gone for too long. "Please don't cry! I'm here! I'm sorry! The last thing I wanted was to upset you!" He clutched the trinket in his hand, unable to show her now. Not now.
"Hey, do you want to keep walking around?" He said, trying to sneak a peak at her, "or do you want to go back to the Sunny?" He wanted to shield her from everyone.
"I... want... I wanna... go... home"
"Home?" His heart sank. Did he mess up that bad? Had she made her choice? Just like that?
"Yes! Home. To the... Sunny" she choked out. Oh. Though the reason for it wasn't good, something about her referring to the Sunny as 'home' pulled at his heart strings.
"Ok Misaki. I'm really sorry." He hoisted her up and pulled her hands from her face again, wiping her tears from her eyes. She tried to smile at him but he could tell it was halfhearted. He held both of her hands for a minute before leading her out of town. He tried telling a few jokes to get her spirits up. By the time they reached the Sunny, she was in a much better mood. He decided their day wasn't over just yet.
"Close your eyes, Misaki." She obliged. He ran around, getting everything just right before picking her up like he did a ways back and jumping onto the captain's seat. "Ok, open."
It was very simple, he knew, but it felt a lot more like them than just walking through town. Some big cushions for sitting, a blanket, and a mug of booze. She laughed.
"Now that is what I'm talking about"
It felt way more comfortable like this. Way more bearable. And more right. That's right, now was just as good a time as any.
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I giggled as I took another swig of booze. "Last bit, Luffy. Last chance!" He obliged, taking the last sip out of the mug. Luffy sat just a little ahead of me, his hands resting behind him so he could look up at the night sky. It wasn't quite as spectacular as when we were out on the water, but it was gorgeous just the same. Nobody else had come back to the ship yet. It was just me and Luffy, sprawled out on the Sunny's figure head. I couldn't help but look at Luffy. He just seemed so... happy... so free... it was at this moment that Luffy looked backward at me, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
"Hey, Misaki, do you wanna kiss?"