FOR THE NTH time since morning, Nami had a sly grin across her lips as she maintained her earphones on each lobe of the hearing sense organ and held her phone tight. Her smooth legs were crossed on the bench while she whistled. She was focused on gathering as much information as she could, for this task of hers was one of the most important ones.
Wiretapping. Nami had learned this skill when she was a kid and now she was finally applying it to her daily life. If it weren't for her involvement with a certain student in her school, she would not resort to this occupation of hers. Also, she once walked over broken glass to 'save' her family from the threats of a certain gang in the block by offering her abilities to their use so going through it again secretly would not be difficult, right?
"...as long as the weather allows it, the operation is a go." Nami's smile stretched once more as she ended her wiretapping, tucking the earphones to the pocket of her skirt and her phone still tightly held in one hand.
As the weather allows it, huh? she thought to herself. If she didn't know any better, she would come to the conclusion that it would be bright and windy until sunset. Actually, what she sensed earlier at the rooftop of their school told her otherwise; the pressure was dropping slowly and she took it as a sign that heavy rain was coming sooner or later. And yes, her forecasts were never wrong.
She scrolled through her phone and read the bold font on the screen, "LOOT". That was her goal; to gather a hundred thousand Beris to buy off her sister's safety. Everything felt like a deja vu to her. Years back she was in an encounter with that gang of thugs taking advantage of their 'wealth'. Nami despised every moment she had to work under their wing, and she wanted to run away but she knew very well what would happen to her sister and family. That, she couldn't stand. Lucky for her, a ray of hope was brought upon her and that ray of hope helped her with all his might, literally beating up that Arlong for 'making her cry'.
"Nami! Hurry up!" that certain ray of hope cried out, brushing up the raven black hair of his.
She looked up and saw her friends looking back at her with curious eyes. "Y-Yeah, coming..."
Friends. Nami never considered them her friends back then, for she was still focused on gathering Beris for the gang. There were four of them at first, but as time progressed, they found another five. Including her, their circle counted up to ten people.
"Nami-swaaan! Robin-chwaannn!" the blonde one, whose right eye was covered by his bangs, wiggled from the back to the side. "Mind if I walk with you?"
A certain green haired one exclaimed instead of Nami and Robin. "Shame on them if they agree."
The lively lad who just had his arms around the ladies' shoulders inched back, turning his head towards the other. "Shut up, Mosshead. I ain't even talking to you."
"Huh? What did you just say?!" it wasn't long until they were on each other's collars, only to be stopped by the reindeer-looking one. No he didn't butt into the argument but he was quick to block 'Mosshead's' path from the blonde lad.
The lady beside Nami chuckled, "It's always lively. I wonder if they ever get tired of it."
Nami rolled her eyes, "Probably not." then she pointed out that the raven haired one was cheering on the green haired, while the tall and skinny one was simply laughing at them. The bulky one was laughing along with the longnosed one as the mature-looking guy was watching them with a soft smile on his face. He probably had the same thoughts as this lady, Nami thought.
The blonde guy managed to land a kick on the greeny's thigh but the latter had one of his scabbards to block it.
"Oi Sanji, cut it off!" Nami called out. That Sanji turned to look to her, with his eyes morphed into hearts.
She wasn't worried about neither of them, that was a fact, but she was startled by the sudden actions of the strawhat-wearing boy with them; usually he would be joining the fun until the end but this time, he was showing off a different aura from before. Nami didn't fail to notice this. She hoped that Sanji would get the idea of their so-called captain not acting quite right.
And Sanji was not that dumb to misunderstand what she meant. Almost immediately, he backed away from the mosshead and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Nami-san."
The bulky one blared, "Why are you apologising to her?! Say sorry to Zoro, not Nami!"
"Over my dead body,"
The day ended quick with their circle hanging out by the School Garden, or Loguetown for most, the place located right in front of their school. It was almost as if it was a village of shops and restos of all kinds though they were all for students from different schools not just the nearest ones. Though of course, since they were the nearest ones in said location, after school hours made it full of those students; their iconic beige vest sweater made it easier for outsiders to distinguish them from the others.
Apparently, Nami knew this fact well. She had her vest sweater over the short sleeved white blouse and the dark cool grey skirt, that reached halfway down her thighs, paired with the regulatory loafer shoes. Her socks reached a few inches below her knees, though she liked them loose and baggy. With the simple get up, she could lure her targets to the right trap...or rather, she could blend herself well with the other students in the School Garden.
Her chocolate brown eyes wondered around, in search for a middle aged man with slick hair. She might not have seen him but thanks to the conversation she hacked into, earlier, she ultimately managed to get her target's appearance. Even she was surprised to get that piece of information. Aside from the fact that he's an ex-convict, Nami remembered that he's working for this company that had loads and load of Beri. And she knew she was in for a treat.
"Fifteen minutes," she huffed to herself and looked up at the sky, tugging her bag with her hand. The temperature was dropping for a while now, and she knew that the weather wouldn't allow the men's plan to succeed. Even though if it did, Nami wouldn't let them.
"Oi witch, here's yours."
She simply smiled and turned away immediately as soon as she grabbed the burger from the tray. "Thanks Zoro."
"All good,"
Now everything's settled. They have gotten their food and all that was left to do was for her to make sure they're staying in one place so she could pull off her plan. She could not let this prey get away.
Nami abruptly stood up from her seat. "Mind if I go for a walk for a while?"
Her friends nodded and blinked. Apart from Sanji who was always fond of women, the raven haired boy had his eyes on her but she didn't know this; she grabbed the orange striped, modified bō staff from her bag and tugged on the straps before walking away once outside the fastfood chain.
A hundred thousand Beris was all she needed. She reckoned that this target of hers would at least have a quarter on him given that he's very liquid and all. As much as she didn't want to do what she was about to, Nami simply let out a heavy sigh as she waited in one alley of the School Garden with the staff in her hand. She did it countless times before; why would she be unable to do it this time?
It was starting to drizzle and Nami noted that. As far as she's concerned, the men's plan would be foiled if the weather gets 'rainy', at least that's what the conversation earlier told her. She had no idea what the weather got to do with them but she decided to use it to her advantage. Moments later, her target came walking down the alley while talking on the phone.
And that target was her final target, for she almost had everything in place. All she needed to do wss to hand them over to her –
"Oh crap, I didn't bring an umbrella!" Nami exclaimed loud enough for the man to hear, as she walked down the same alley.
The man gazed at her. "Umbrella?"
"Y-Yeah..." she replied innocently. "it's going to rain soon."
"What? It's sunny and clear right now. Are you okay, miss...?"
For goodness's sake, Nami thought. This man could not get any more ignorant. She was wearing the iconic uniform of her mighty school, in front of him, but he was not showing any sign of –
"You're from One Piece, aren't you?" he gasped as he recognised the crest on Nami's vest sweater.
Being from 'One Piece' meant having an entirely different life from the other students attending different schools. With the blind eye the 'authorities' of the school turning to the students' activities, it was not a surprise that the man in front of Nami felt the sudden urge to back away. He didn't know what kind of business she might be having to take his head or whatever. But Nami never killed anybody before, no. Even the gang she was once in knew this.
She smiled, "Yes. But it's better if you don't get my name." Her orange hair blew against her face as she extended the striped staff in her hand, twirling it to summon 'magic'. She was not doing anything dangerous, actually, but she was gradually altering the moisture and humidity so she would become invisible. A mirage, that was.
"H-Hey! What do you want from me?!"
Seemingly to have disappeared, Nami dashed towards the man and used the baton to knock him down to the ground but not hurting him greatly though she had the upper hand. The end of the stick was pointed on the back of his head and she kept it that way as she dove her hands through his pockets, searching for whatever he she could. It wasn't long until she came to the conclusion of a thick wallet, a flash drive, and a folded piece of paper. She unfolded the latter as she stood up straight, fixing her skirt.
"You're not getting away with this, you know that?" he blurted out and Nami had a blank expression on her eyes. He even pointed that out.
"I already have," she then explained her connection to him and what's going to happen after she retrieved the things she needed. Since her target was a rather fluid one, it was not a surprise that her total loot increased to almost a hundred thousand. "...say hi to them for me."
"I-I know you!" he blared as Nami walked away, letting the newly arrived men to take him. "You're that girl from Arlong's gang! You gave the cops quite the trouble, didn't you? But thanks to that I now know your name."
"I never give anybody my name,"
"Are you sure about that?" Nami wanted to run away as soon as she could but whatever the man had got to say to her enticed her. She was surprised when she heard him say her name. "You're Nami, the 'Cat Burglar', aren't you?"
The staff between her hands had retracted but she walked up to him and pointed it at his face. She then gripped the middle portion tight, making the ends extend and deliver a rather effective jab on the middle of his nosebridge.
"Touché,"