The World Ends With You

Chapter 6: A Girl's Tears

A/N: This would be a rather short chapter, because I had to include some filler fluffs every once in a while. Enjoy~

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THREE WEEKS PASSED since the first day of school. Such that, posters and flyers for different clubs and extra-curricular activities were pinned up on almost every bulletin board in the school. Sports clubs and organisations were filled with entries, and Luffy specifically signed up for one of those.

"Basketball...?" Nami hummed. "Why would you want to join the basketball team?"

Luffy shrugged his shoulders, "You don't want me to join the bball team? I could always move to the soccer team."

"W-What?!" she blushed but try to keep her cool as much as possible. "I-I'm not...what I meant was–" she then explained herself and how Luffy's answer to her statement was misleading. Not that doing so helped him understand it, though.

As of the moment, there were no other 'Strawhats' – at least that's what Luffy liked to call their circle, err, crew – present other than him and Nami. Hanging out by the library for their free period, they decided it would be best if they're gonna find out what they're gonna do after school. Luffy there wanted to join the basketball team...

"I'm wondering if I could join the swim team, though." Nami muttered but it was loud enough for Luffy to hear.

"That's good! You're a great swimmer. It's like you're a fish,"

Because of a missing homework, Luffy had to stay behind for both recess and lunch, with Nami who was considered to be one of the smartest kids in their year group.

The classroom was empty. Nami was sitting on the teacher's desk with a leg over the other, tapping a finger on the platform. On one hand she had her phone which she was using to scan through an ebook Robin recommended her to read.

Luffy furrowed his eyebrows. "Oi, why don't you help me fix the chairs?"

"I already sweeped the floor didn't I? And besides, I'm just here to keep an eye on you and NOT help you with the tasks you're assigned with."

It's true, Nami was just asked to make sure that Luffy wouldn't do anything stupid.

"And hey, isn't this your third time in detention?"

At that, Luffy placed a finger on his forehead and squeezed his eyes tight, thinking. He couldn't remembered the exact times he got detained for something stupid, but Nami sure could. Luffy huffed. "How do you know that?"

"Because I'm your friend...?"

More often than not, Nami found herself getting interested on what Luffy does at school. She couldn't say the same to the others, e.g. Zoro, but she's pretty sure without finding out what they do she always would, one way or another.

Luffy pouted, "You stalker."

"What?!" this time, Nami stood up on her toes and clenched her fists, in embarrassment. "Where did you learn that word?!"

"Hancock told me,"

"Hancock...?" Nami felt her chest tighten.

The raven haired boy had a stupid smile on his lips while he spoke, "Yea she told me some of the things happening here during those two years. Oh, did you know that she even makes me food every after my training with Rayleigh during those two years? Hancock makes the best meat, that's for sure..."

Feeling awkward, Nami spoke the first thing that came to her mind, "Better than Sanji's?"

"Nah...maybe?"

She didn't hear the last word. The fact that Luffy had compared Hancock's cooking to Sanji's meant that her dishes must be delightfully delicious. She hadn't seen this woman yet but she could imagine her feeding Luffy with the food he always asks for, with Luffy never getting enough. If there's a woman Luffy should be with, it's this one. Nami unconsciously grabbed on her left wrist which had a gold bangle around it.

W-What am I thinking... Nami showed a faint smile.

"O-Oi, are you okay?" he blinked and inched towards her, his eyes looking at hers. His chest somehow tightened when he noticed tears threatening to fall from her brown eyes. "What did I do?! Nami!! Hey-"

"What are you–" she gasped when she felt a tear softly shed.

Luffy tensed up and stepped back. He, for one, should never make Nami cry. Or alone, never take her smile away. That's one thing he'd never forget from two years ago. Also, Sanji told him that men who make women cry are even worse than the devil himself. So with that said, Luffy tried his best to cheer the orange haired woman up by making silly faces but his usual childish antics didn't seem to work. Nami was on the verge of tearing up much more and it scared him.

Couldn't think of anything else, he slowly reached for her face and cupped her cheeks with his warm hands. It was Nami who tensed up this time. Luffy may know nothing about how to mend ties with women but he was not that dumb to not know what a girl's tears meant. He always acted on instinct, after all, and that instinct was telling him that the girl in front of her was grieving secretly.

The worst part was Nami was great at keeping secrets. Given the event from days ago, she kept her mouth shut about the lipstick she 'bought' for Robin or the perfume she 'bought' for Nojiko. Or years ago when she utterly threw Luffy and the others under the bus just to keep them from knowing what's really behind the surface...what's behind the strong façade of a mere cat burglar. Luffy knew that this aspiring navigator of his was not one to mess with, emotionally and mentally.

His thumbs literally wiped away the tears on Nami's face before he retracted one hand and grabbed the hat that rested on top of his head, gently putting it over Nami's. She once more gasped and she felt her cheeks warm up.

"I don't know what I did but I don't like seeing you cry,"

If Nami hadn't known any better, she would think that Luffy had fallen for her but that thinking was and always been wrong, she decided. Luffy's the kind of guy who never thinks before opening his mouth and doesn't even mind if what he said was inappropriate or just plain ignorant. As of the moment, Nami was trying to deduce which one his little statement was but she failed to, since her heart was beating faster.

Although she had deduced one thing: she needed to sort out the unbearable feeling on her chest whenever they're together, for the sake of the woman who clearly had the hots for Luffy.