A/N: Hmmm...'Battle Royale'. I wonder how many people are in this chapter?
~~~
ATHLETICS DAY WAS over but the students of One Piece Regal Academy were divided into numerous groups with four members each. It was the first ever 'Battle Royale' and nobody had the chance to find out about it. Not even the Warlords themselves or the student council. Almost everyone was, luckily, in their sports uniform when the sudden announcement was made.
The Straw Hats themselves were divided into two groups, with two remnants not participating. Those remnants were Usopp and Chopper, who lost their will to play when they find out that Nami wasn't backing down. She wanted to get the prize. And to do that, she needed to have the strongest individuals they have in their circle, being Jinbe, Sanji, Zoro and of course, Luffy.
"The Tamatebako is mine," she stated with her eyes morphing into Beri signs. But since Jinbe was already working with Robin, Franky and Brook, she had no choice but to keep Sanji.
Nami took out the orange striped baton from her bag, which she called her 'Sorcery Clima-Tact'. It was fixed by Usopp for defensive purposes but it seemed like she was using it to hit the perverts of the circle, and even Zoro and Luffy.
"Nami, you sure you're keeping ero-cook with you?" Zoro blurted out.
Sanji glared at him. "Don't poison her mind, you mosshead! She picked me because she likes me. Don't you, Nami-swann?"
"Shut up and focus!" the orange haired girl said as she fixed the Log Pose on her left wrist. She explained their plan while they walked away from the other group. Hopefully the three of them follow what she had just said, or they would receive a beating. Certainly.
"Huh?" a familiar voice hummed from behind them. "Strawhat-ya...Zoro-ya...Black Leg-ya...and Nami-ya, too?"
It was none other than the 'Surgeon of Death', Trafalgar Law. He had long abandoned his spotted white cap so his jet black hair was seen with no restraints, and girls from different year levels swoon upon sight of him. He had tattoos on the back of his hands that he didn't bother to cover. His blazer? He wore it as a cape over his broad shoulders and kept a few buttons on his shirt undone, slightly revealing his chest with another set of ink but a different pattern.
Also, he had the habit of calling people by whatever nicknames he wanted to, followed by the suffix '-ya'.
"Torao!!" Luffy cheered.
"Leave me alone, Strawhat-ya." Law simply said with a cold expression on his well chiselled face. "Good grief. Are you here to play, too?"
"Uh-huh. Nami wants the box, too."
"Nami-ya?"
The orange haired girl approached 'Torao'. "Hi Torao-kun!! Hope you go easy on us!"
The members of Law's group waved at them. He had Bepo, Penguin and Shachi behind him with contradicting happy faces to that of their scorning captain's.
"Whatever. I wish you all good luck,"
As the four Straw Hats headed forward to the halls, they came across another familiar figure. This one had jaggy red hair and buffy physique, with his uniform not worn properly. He was only wearing the white shirt and nothing more. Beside him was another guy whose face was covered by his thick, blonde hair.
"Jaggy!" Luffy once again cheered.
"Luffy, do you seriously have to greet everyone we pass by?" Zoro remarked.
Eustass 'Captain' Kid grunted. "Don't tell me you're here for the box, too?"
"What if we are?!" Luffy blurted out. "I'm gonna take it by the end!"
"No, I will!"
"No, I will!!"
Killer, the so-called 'Massacre Soldier', simply chuckled. "Fafafafafa! These guys..."
"Huh, there's only two of you?" Luffy blinked.
"Shut it, Strawhat."
Nami huffed as she pushed Luffy and the others up the stairs. "Come on, Luffy."
They have to gather as much information as possible, from who had the Tamatebako first to where it was being kept now. More imprtantly, they also have to know just how many epople they were going against. Worst case scenario, Nami decided that they were going against the entire school.
Upon reaching the next floor, Nami almost fell down since she tripped herself. "Frick!!" Luckily, Luffy was there to grab her just before she fall down the staircase. "T-Thanks."
He chuckled. "No problem!!"
"Zoro! Stay here!" she called out to the green haired man who was stepping forward.
"Okay, so what do we know?" Sanji asked as they ran again through the halls, searching for the keeping area of the box.
Nami brought out her phone. "The Tamatebako is hidden somewhere in the school."
They stopped when Sanji stopped. "And who organised the event?"
"The student council?" Nami asked back.
Zoro blinked. "Probably."
"So they're probably keeping it somewhere that only they have access to,"
"Like what, ero-cook?"
Sanji hummed while Luffy just watched the three do the thinking. "Their office?"
They ran a few metres, not without at least one of them calling out to Zoro, then stopped once more, with Nami fixing her wavy hair. "That's obvious so it's probably not there."
Another competitor bumped into them. Literally. "Ow!!" she yelped as she rolled towards Zoro.
"Mellorine~!!" Sanji exclaimed and offered help to the pink haired girl on the ground.
"Aren't you...Jewelry Bonney?" Zoro recognised her from two years ago.
The girl stood up on her own and fixed her skirt, while also doing the same on her blouse. She had nothing over it and she had the sleeves folded since it was two sizes too big for her. "You're doing this too, Strawhat? You better aren't."
"I am!" Luffy grinned.
Bonney grunted. "Really? And you're heading to the student council office? Shame."
"What do you know?" Zoro retorted.
"The Tamatebako was taken a few minutes ago."
Nami's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"
"They don't know who took it, but it's certainly connected to the system glitch they experienced a while ago."
Sanji opened his mouth. "System glitch? Now that you mention it, shouldn't they have announced that the box was already taken?"
"Anyway," Bonney said, emphasis on the first syllable. "I got to go. That stupid box is mine, Strawhat!!!"
They watched as the girl disappeared into the distance and Nami turned to them. "The box..."
Luffy flashed a toothy grin. "That's okay, Nami. We'll find who took it, soon."
They walked down the stairs into the lobby. Apparently, Robin and the others were already out and searching for the taker of the box and they were also nowhere near to finding them. Nami sulked at this, their steps as slow and tiny as hers.
"I just want the Tamatebako...just tha–" she noticed a student running past them. Her eyes were quick to run a full scan on him and, there it was, the Tamatebako residing inside the tight embrace of his arms. "The box!!!"
The three boys turned to Nami who had now had her Clima-Tact extended on both ends, dashing towards the student's direction. "Oi!! Nami!!!"
She was quick to catch up to him at the stairs but the next thing she knew, she was standing inside the chemistry lab. There was no one inside aside from her and a few experiments out and running. Out and running? Nami tried opening the door.
"Locked," she gulped. Then she noticed the solutions sparking one by one. "What the actual–"
"Nami-ya!" she turned and saw Law on the other side of the door.
He did something that budged the door and just before a small explosion was made, he had pulled her towards him and they fell on his back. Law grunted.
The three members of her group soon arrived. Luffy saw Nami on Law and he felt something weird inside his chest. "Nami, what happened?"
"I don't know," she stammered as she got up and helped Law get up. "Thanks, by the way, Torao-kun. You saved my ass there."
"Torao! I'm gonna kill you!!" Sanji exclaimed and went to grab Law's collar but was stopped by a pleading Nami. No, not pleading, but angry.
"He helped me, Sanji. Cut it out,"
On the other hand, Luffy was still staring blankly and Nami could clearly see him. "Uhh, Luffy? Are you okay?"
Zoro noticed what just happened. "Why were you inside, in the first place?"
"I was following this guy who had the Tamatebako then he led me straight here,"
The four boys listened for a while before Law finally went back to his group. His job was done.
"...then Torao-kun came to help me. The door was locked and I couldn't break the window or I'll be in trouble." Nami retracted the staff. "Anyway, let's go. I think I know where that bastard is."
Luffy walked behind Nami while they headed to one of the rooms specified in Robin's text. Zoro kept a safe distance from Sanji and watched their surroundings carefully for another 'attack' or, from what happened earlier, diversion. He might not be the smartest but he came up with the idea that the box Nami saw was simply a decoy that was meant for her.
They later reached the west wing, where the art room was located. Nami decided to check it out. Canvases filled the walls and wooden benches were empty, the smell of paint still evident from the air of the room. There were scraps of paper on the ground that were either dripped with colours or crumpled. On the shelves erected miniature statues, mostly carvings, and origamis in different hues.
"Nothing here," Luffy huffed, making Nami turn to him.
The PA then blared, "...the Tamatebako is retrieved. Again, the Tamatebako is retrieved."
Zoro hummed. "So the box has returned, huh?"
"Nami-san, any ideas?"
She paused for a while, walking back and forth inside the room while unconsciously twirling her baton between her fingers. They have to, at least, know where the box was hidden in the first place or they would never get close to it. It's most likely that it was in the student council office but that would be a dead giveaway. Where else could the student council members go that other student couldn't?
Think, Nami, think...she thought to herself. Or maybe it was the exact opposite? The box might be hidden somewhere students could easily find, but often overlook. Then a bulb lit up inside her head.
"Are you sure about this?" Luffy asked. They were on their way to the library.
She chuckled. "No but it's worth a try, right?"
Luffy pouted. "Don't blame us if something goes wrong..."
"I won't!"
Zoro looked around. "What the..."
There were also students walking towards the same room. Eight groups of fours were rushing to the library, three of them being Law's, Kid's and Bonney's. Nami gulped. She recognised the leaders of every group and it was–
"...the Supernovas,"
Luffy also noticed this and before the others could race inside, he exclaimed. "GO, NAMI!!"
Sanji was right behind Nami to guard her from sudden attacks and she was lucky to have him doing just that. "Thank you!"
"We leave the rest to you, Nami-san!"
Inside, Nami came across familiar faces. In fact, they were so familiar she thought she was dreaming. "Usopp?! Chopper?!"
"Oh, hey Nami!"
Outside, Luffy and Zoro were also battling the others from getting inside the library. The latter had his katanas out but sheathed. "Ero-cook! The hell are you doing over there?!"
'Roar of the Sea' Scratchmen Apoo blasted music from where he was and it sent everyone to agony. It wasn't music though, just a recording of a high frequency screech. Killer had his ears covered and so–
"Cover your ears! You'll be better if you did that!" he said to Kid.
Basil Hawkins made his way to stop Law from advancing, just as Bonney destroyed the source of the sound. Urouge, the 'Mad Monk', also did his own way to keep everyone else from advancing.
Luffy threw a punch at a certain X Drake. Drake rampaged forwards like an allosaurus but it didn't budge Luffy's defense. Killer was getting the better of Capone Bege, on the other hand. Next, Sanji kept out of the fight by going inside the library himself to lock the Supernovas out. What he saw inside also surprised him.
"Yeah Sanji, same..." Nami cried.
The day ended with Nami obtaining nothing; Usopp and Chopper won the Tamatebako by outwitting everyone. They took the first place where everyone else wasn't and there it was, the treasure the 'Battle Royale' was held for.