The World Ends With You

Chapter 21: Awake

"So what are you gonna do?"

ACE MASSAGED HIS chin while he and Sabo looked over a clenched fist Luffy by the stool. They've never seen their crybaby brother that serious, they've been sensing some killer intent within him; his eyes were shadowed by his precious strawhat and he could barely resist himself. Before Ace could move, Luffy shuffled on his seat and spoke in a low voice.

"I'm gonna kick his ass,"

Sabo pouted. "Who?"

"Bellamy," Luffy replied.

Bellamy, 'The Hyena', was the one behind Nami's weird actions for the past couple weeks and Luffy was not that much of an idiot to turn a blind eye on it. Not especially when its his friend that was on stake here. Even if Luffy couldn't understand why she did it, Nami literally left their circle for her own reasons and he was never going to accept that. More importantly, he thought saw tears on her face that time in the rooftop.

Lately, Luffy had been feeling his chest tighten whenever someone mentions her name or he sees her around at school. The sensation wasn't there before but he recognised it as excitement or whatever, and it just worsened when he had that weird dream involving her.

"Are you sure? You're facing a student older than you, you know." Sabo gasped and laid on the floor, crossing his legs. "If I were you, I would back down."

"Why would you do that?" the raven haired boy, without the freckles, retorted. "You said that it isn't like me to back down."

"I said 'it's not like you to doubt yourself', not 'not back down'."

Ace yawned, "But Luffy, it's your problem, not ours. You should be the one who's thinking of a way out."

"That's easy for you to say,"

The older ones exchanged glances. As if they telepathically just talked to each other, Ace turned to Luffy with a smug look on his chiselled face. "Are you...scared?"

Luffy snapped his neck to face his direction, "What?"

Sabo put his hands together and placed it just before his lips, thinking. Seconds later, he then turned to Luffy with the same expression Ace had a while ago. "Who are we talking about, again?"

"Bellamy...?"

"No, the real subject."

Ace added, "The bomb...who's the bomb?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Sabo cleared his throat. "What we meant, my dear brother, is who's the one in the middle of all these?"

"Nami," Light shun upon Luffy's eyes and they seemed to sparkle for a while as he spoke in an unsure tone and while he did just that, he felt his heart beat faster than usual. He hated that feeling. He absolutely hated it, especially when he didn't even know what it meant in the first place. Nami would always be the bomb, he decided, even before she was one.

"Do you care about her?"

"Of course I do, she's my friend."

Ace narrowed his eyes to slits, and so did Sabo with his buttton-shaped eyes. "Friend...?"

"Nami's my friend," Luffy cried. "she's my navigator!"

The choice of words didn't go unnoticed by the two even though they knew Luffy was just an innocent bloke who speaks his mind. And right now, the fact that he said 'my' instead of 'our' while pertaining to the orange haired girl was a hint that there might be something more to Luffy's real feelings, he just doesn't know it yet.

"Luffy, you know about me and Koala, right?"

At the same time, Ace thought of a certain vermilion haired girl who always snitched on him whenever he does something 'against the rules'. Most of the time she chased him around the school, hot on his tails, and Ace dashing towards various corners of the school was an understatement. He never got tired of it, though.

Sabo huffed and continued with a smile on his face, "You know we didn't become an item just because we want to be."

Luffy didn't speak and had a visibly puzzled expression on his face. Sabo lifted a finger, "And when I say I love her, I mean it. Even if I was asked, I will always subconsciously say that."

"But then again, you are smarter than our brother so you won't,"

"Exactly," Sabo chuckled.

Luffy then pouted. "Why do I feel like you're just ganging up one me?"

"Luffy!" Ace firmed his hands on Luffy's shoulders. He may not be as smart as Sabo but he had an idea on what he was saying. "You have to realise your feelings inside."

"What?"

"What is Nami to you?"

He furrowed his brows. "She's my friend."

"Nothing else?"

"And my navigator,"

"And?"

"She...she's–"

Sabo interrupted whatever his brother was going to say. "Luffy, you don't get this fluttery feeling in your stomach when you think or see her?"

"Gross, no."

"Doesn't your chest tightens up a bit? Your heart beats faster?"

Luffy blinked at the last bits. "Y-Yeah I do feel those two...and I hate it."

"Then–" but Ace was caught off by Sabo's hand flattening on his lips.

===

NAMI SNEEZED TWO times in a row, earning a couple gesundheits from the nearby seniors. A book was placed on the table in front of her, opened to the page she was reading, lined by a bookmark Chopper made for her. She grimaced. Then her eyes traveled to her left wrist where a golden bangle was hanging along with the Log Pose that Luffy got for her.

The buttery sunshine entered the windows of the senior lounge, letting its golden ray gleam on the table. Since a curtain was in the way, the intensity of the light was reduced by half but Nami was still blinded by the glares.

"Luffy..." she whispered with dazed eyes. It was the nth time she thought of him and felt hurt; she didn't want their friendship to end that way but for the sake of her beloved sister, why not? Blood had always been thicker than water, after all.

It was Saturday but she had to stay at school in Bellamy's will. Since she swore her undying fidelity to him the other day, and the whole school was there to witness it, she might as well enjoy being part of the troupe. No matter how heavy. No matter how unright.

No matter the danger.

But the question was, why did she care so much? It was part of her plan to cut ties with them and she even thought the action would be difficult for them. Turns out it was the other way around, with the parting hitting harder on her.

Nami felt bad. She felt sorry for herself and she despised every minute she had to work for Bellamy. Knowing that there's still someone up high, above Bellamy, who controlled everything, Nami couldn't get herself to not feel afraid. Oh, she was terrified. But then again, at times she would find herself thinking about Luffy and Luffy alone.

Then it struck her. Maybe she does love him. Not just a friend, but something more than that. She pondered about her feelings a couple times now and yes, Luffy was as innocent and pure as ever but Nami knew that. She adored that aspect of him. Sometimes she would wonder if Luffy had started to see her as something more than a friend but that's impossible, she decided. Nami told herself she would tell him about it but ever since her allegiance to the troupe, she never got the opportunity to talk to him alone.

Maybe she would try...now that the sky was still awake and as for her, enlightened.