"ZORO? RORONOA ZORO?"
Nami nudged the sleeping mosshead beside her as it was homeroom and the roll was being taken. She was currently looking at him, annoyed, while waiting for him to wake up. It was a full hour after the back to school orientation and she couldn't ignore the fact that there were a lot of new faces. And she couldn't also ignore that Zoro was still bad at directions.
The homeroom advisor, Miss Hina, had called his name for the nth time. "Roronoa Zoro?"
Nami nudged Zoro forcefully, making him waking up. "Huh? Morning already?"
"Stop sleeping during class, damn it!"
Miss Hina's voice called out again. "Zoro?"
"Yeah I'm here." he then turned to her. "it's not even a class."
Nami pouted. "Tch. You sleepyhead just doesn't get enough sleep every night. Oh, is that why your left eye is closed?"
"Mind your business, woman."
The bell rang, and it was time for recess. The two of them got up from their seats and shoved their bags on their backs before exiting the room as Nami then sensed that she was walking all alone.
"Zoro?" she huffed. "Where the hell are you?"
"Oi Nami, where the heck are you going?!"
She turned around to see him walking off towards an entirely different direction. Exclaiming, she ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "No, where are you going?"
"To the cafeteria,"
She folded her arms across her chest, "And are you sure it's that way?"
"Leave me alone, I can take care of myself."
"You probably can't so let's go," Nami began pulling him back, his feet dragging on the ground.
"Let me go you little witch!"
The cafeteria was bustling with students. Everybody had their own tables inside but of course, some had to go loiter around the halls of the school because there weren't enough seats for them. Luckily, Zoro and Nami's friends already got a table by the window near the vending machines.
"Nami!" a female voice called out from the direction. It was Nico Robin's.
The two approached the table and sat on opposite sides of the bench. Nami had her bag down in the ground, leaning against the foot of the table, as she patted down her skirt. She crossed her legs as she brought out her phone from the pocket. Zoro already had his brows furrowed upon sight of the blonde guy sitting across him.
Nami facepalmed upon hearing him say, "What are you staring at, you curly brows?"
It was one of their usual, pointless arguments but having them everyday, at least five times an hour, was exhausting. Nami stood from her seat and her left arm reached for the top of Zoro's head along with her right on Sanji's one, giving both of them a hard smack.
Robin only giggled at the sight. She was clearly enjoying this.
"Sorry we're late!" Luffy's voice rang somewhere and the next thing they knew, he was standing by the table with Franky and Brook. Usopp came from the restroom so he already had his bag on his space on the bench while Jinbe was already sitting quietly by the edge next to Chopper.
Jinbe was the newest of them all, for Luffy was almost hellbent on having him as his friend. Jinbe was a foreign exchange student, who happened to liken the school environment and so he decided to stay for good. The most significant encounter of him in the school was Luffy bugging him every single day to accept his request as his friend.
Luffy sat opposite to Nami. The latter bit her lip.
"Hey Nami?" she turned to face Usopp, who was speaking mildly as if he caught a sore throat. "Can you get me something to drink?"
Nami tilted her head, "Franky has cola." she turned to the blue haired guy next to Robin. "Don't you, Franky?"
"I do but they're SUPER cold and I need them for the rest of the day,"
Nami sighed as Usopp put his hands together, "Nami, please?"
She held out her hand after she stood up. "Money."
"I'll pay you back later,"
That statement was enough to put her in a devilish state; flames were circulating her entire body, her hair suspended midair and her expression was as dark as pitch. Calmly, she spoke, "I didn't hear you...what did you say, Usopp-san?"
Chills were sent down his spine, "I-I said I'll be getting the money now. Here, it's 2 000 Beris. Get yourself something, too, while you're at it."
The demoness Nami returned to her normal state, "Thanks Usopp! You're the best." then she headed to the vending machine, which was a few tables away from theirs.
She was shocked to see nobody in queue. The reason was the carton pasted on the glass that read 'NOT WORKING. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE', which Nami frowned at. Seeing no other choice at all, she walked out of the cafeteria to the other vending machine by the great doors of One Piece Regal Academy. There she was relieved to see no one waiting, and the lights were way too bright; a sign that it was working just right.
She slid the note inside the panel as she took half a step back, looking for something good to get for herself. And Usopp.
"Yo Nami!"
She flinched and turned sidewards, her eyes widening at the sight of a grinning Luffy standing by. "L-Luffy! Man, you startled me."
Normally she would beat him up for doing just that but she decided to talk it through. Not everything can be solved by violence, and that's a fact.
"What are you doing here? Everybody's at the table right now,"
"Yeah I heard Usopp talking about drinks and stuff so I decided to follow you,"
"But I didn't even notice you...?"
"Oh, I got here first." Luffy chuckled. "What are you getting? Can you get me something?"
"No way, this is my – I mean, Usopp's – money."
Luffy pouted. "Please...?"
Nami felt her heart leap upon staring at him. He looked adorable like that; his ever-messy hair being status quo, while leaning on the wall on her right and lowkey pleading her.
"Fine." she gave out an unkept smile. "What do you want?"
He leaned as he pointed at the vanilla shake by the left hand side of the machine, letting Nami inhale the scent of his perfume. She was surprised Luffy didn't smell like sweat and meat. It wasn't long until he leaned back again against the wall, this time putting one sole on a slant.
"Okay then," Nami entered the 'coordinate' of Luffy's desired drink. "You should thank Usopp for– oh, you've got to be shitting me."
"What's wrong?"
"The machine..." her shoulders dropped. "it ate Usopp's bill."
Luffy let out a hearty laugh. "That's funny! They should really get this machine replaced."
Nami glanced at him, "What do you mean?"
"Hancock told me that during those two years, it began eating bills of every student that tries to purchase something from it."
She grabbed his collar. "Why didn't you tell me that sooner?!"
Sweat comically dropped from his forehead. "I-I apologise for my actions..."
Nami calmed herself and folded her arms across her chest. She thought of a way to get that drink for free OR get the bill back. Nojiko faced a dilemma like this one, she recalled. But that time all she needed to do was hit the machine so hard it gave out a random drink instead of her desired one.
A bulb clicked inside Nami's head.
She started skipping, one foot setting forward after the other, as Luffy stood straight. "Nami, what are you doing...?"
She then spun and as such, her shin landed on the side of the vending machine. Luffy's eyes went gazing on something on her skirt while she regained her stance. Nami's eyes sparkled when a can of vanilla shake came out.
"It worked!" she exclaimed as she grabbed it and handed it out to Luffy.
"Do girls normally have that?"
"What, kicking vending machines?"
He pointed at her skirt, which she immediately patted down; Nami's face turned red as a tomato upon hearing what Luffy had said. Of course she would be wearing shorts. Her skirt was reaching halfway down her thighs but she felt a bit insecure about not wearing one. And for another, the pair of shorts she was wearing was not even visible to the naked eye unless a strong wind blows. That pair of shorts was completely hidden from view thanks to it being a short shorts, and her skirt being a few inches longer than it.
Nevertheless, Nami was way too embarrassed to face Luffy who was blinking at her, confused.
"Luffy...you know you shouldn't look at what's under a girl's skirt, right?"
If he didn't get beaten up earlier, he surely would be getting it now. Nami was holding him by the back collar as they headed back to their table, with nothing but the can of vanilla shake she got for Luffy. And that was for free since she gave the machine a nice roundhouse kick.