"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"
Luffy's phone hit the ground so hard, it almost got smashed to pieces. He had a dark and furious expression on his face; even his aura was a deadly one, Robin thought. Nobody bothered to come near him, fearing of what Luffy could instinctively do out of reflex and sheer anger.
Everyone, even Jinbe, was startled by his action. Chopper whimpered and covered his ears in the process. "Luffy..."
"What's wrong with her?! Why is she saying this kind of thing?!"
Usopp spoke, his voice trembling as much as his knees. "C-Calm down..."
"She said we can't do anything?! That that's it?!"
Franky replied calmly. "But that Bellamy guy did actually got you beaten up, didn't he?"
"What did you say?! That wasn't...I was just holding back! That doesn't make –"
"C-Calm down...s-stop–" Usopp demanded fearfully, as they watched Luffy stomp his way to the wall near the rooftop door. The raven haired boy's phone was still on the ground and Usopp picked it up, thankful that it didn't break. Not that Luffy's throw wasn't strong, it's just the case was super durable.
The screen still showed Nami and Luffy's text receipts, with the last thing on the bottom being the voice mail, as it was kept open by Usopp. Sanji turned to the latter. "Hey, let me hear it again."
Nami's voice blared from the speakers of Luffy's phone.
Please forgive me for being unable to say farewell to you all directly. I have decided to join Bellamy's troupe. Bellamy is a powerful individual who you could never match up to even if you stood up to him. Even if you came after me you would only end up losing your lives.
Lives? Seriously? At this point, Luffy had his fist on the wall and everybody was either dismayed or relieved at the final part of Nami's message. Now everything felt different and not a déjà vû anymore. Luffy had never felt this angry – no, furious – before. Maybe once, two years ago, when Arlong told him that Nami was nothing to him but an object of his goal. His blood was boiling as he breathed hard, glancing at the crack he managed to give to the concrete before him.
Why was she confusing? Why was Nami so hard to manage? Luffy didn't calm down until Zoro walked up to him, seemingly waiting for his command of action. He may have told him to leave her alone for good, but after listening to the message, Zoro himself had started feeling guilty for Luffy's undisputed act of pushing Nami away for the last couple of days.
There was only one option for Luffy, and that's what he was great at, but considering his conversation with Nami earlier, he was hesitating. With this, Luffy came running down the staircase with his eyes searching for–
"ACE!! SABO!!!"
Right now, his friends would be better off without seeing him burst out of anger – even though they already kinda did – as Luffy's voice rang across the great halls of One Piece Regal Academy. It wasn't long until the two brothers of his came out of the senior lounge and had the similar annoyed expression on their faces.
Even Luffy didn't know why his first action was to ask his brothers for help. It wasn't like him.
"I see..." Sabo hummed while he leaned back on his seat.
Ace, on the other hand, leaned his elbow on the table. "So your girl is being forced out of your clique, isn't she?"
Girl? Luffy wanted to ask why Ace said 'girl' instead of 'friend' but he was way too preoccupied of everything that was going on. All that he could say was, "Yep. And I'm gonna beat the crap out of that guy."
The blonde one bit his lip. "Wait, what?"
"You heard me. I am going to beat up that Bellamy, he will not be able to stand up again." Luffy's angry face started fading.
He's a senior, Ace and Sabo awed. "But...?"
"But I can't do that! Franky's right. I got beaten up by that bastard once so maybe I can't do it, after all."
"The hell?" Ace groaned. "Is it that, or is there something else bothering you?"
"What?"
Sabo cracked his knuckles, "It isn't like you to doubt yourself."
Luffy blinked. Maybe Nami's message did actually had an effect on him, he just didn't know it. He recalled her voice playing that annoying message over and over again, as he clenched his fists and slammed them on the table. If the cafeteria was full, the students would have been looking at them by now.
"I wanna do it..." Luffy started. "but how do I know if I'm not gonna mess it up? Nami's –"
Ace was the one who slammed his fist on the table this time. "You don't. That's all it is, Luffy. A leap of faith."
Luffy glanced at Sabo who had a smile, "He's right, little bro. God, I want to punch you right now. Stop doubting yourself!"
"Now get up and tell your friends that you made up your mind,"
===
Later that day, Nami had arrived home with Nojiko, who was still clueless about the stuff going on with Bellamy. They didn't have conversations about him before, so Nami asking about him was a first even for her.
"Yeah he creeps me out sometimes but he's nice. He helped me with homework once," Nojiko blurted out. She noticed Nami sulking unconditionally by the corner. "Are you okay?"
"Just tired,"
Nojiko's phone chimed. She went through the message and her eyes widened at what was shown. What she did next was unbelievable; with her sudden alarm Nami stood from where she sat and the next thing she knew, Nojiko had her hand flying towards the side of Nami's face. She showed her what was on the screen of her phone as the latter was still facing the other direction. Nami felt her cheek sting from the hand of her furious sister.
"Seriously?! What the hell, Nami?!"
The orange haired girl remained silent. It was...it was all too soon. Everything was going too fast. And for another, Nojiko getting an idea on what's going on was not in the deal.
"So my intuition was right...something is going on between you two." Nojiko watched Nami breath while she herself still had a teary eye. "Answer me! What is this?!"
It was a photo of Nami handing Bellamy a couple hundred Beris, that was a stolen shot, and a message that said something about the two being in cahoots for some time now. But nevertheless, the message was from The Hyena himself.
"I-I...Bellamy and I made a deal," she replied. "A hundred thousand Beris and..."
Nojiko huffed.
"...and he'll lay off of you,"
"Everything's fine, Nami! He's not–"
"I don't believe you," she retorted, sniffing. "I know about the creepy things he says about you. And 'Dynamite Gal'? I know it's you he's referring to when he says that."
Nojiko squealed. "Even so, you didn't have to go all the way to 'save' me! Nami...it was just like two years ago."
The younger one flinched. Her sister was right. Nami had went through this once, two years ago, but that time was much more difficult since she had to gather money without any advantage.
"At least now I...I have stuff to help me with!" Nami forced a smile and took out the orange baton from her bag. It was the same one Usopp and Franky had worked on, which she now uses for her 'operation'.
"That's not the point! Why are you taking the burden all to yourself?!"
Nami averted her gaze.
"Do they know?"
"Huh?"
"Your friends," Nojiko stated. "do they know? Does he know?"
Luffy? Nami had long abandoned the thought of his reaction to the news for she had personally bid her adieu to them. That voice mail was probably deleted by now and the others would, hopefully, not go after her. It was just like what she wanted...or, what Bellamy wanted her to do, rather.
Nami clenched her fist. "Can we not talk about them, please?"
"So what are you going to do now?"
One thing popped into Nami's mind: cut connections with her and her main circle. The nine of them would be better off without the burden of her choice on their backs, even though the message she sent them was kind of saying otherwise. Nami simply hoped that they'd get it, especially him. Especially their immature captain who had the history of doing things on his own accord no matter how senseless it may be. It would be best for everyone to cut ties with her.
But through the message earlier, Nami knew she already did.