1 Chapter 1

"Mmnn."

She rubbed her eyes.

"Are you leaving already?"

"Ahh," Nami said, "I'm on day duty today. I've left last night's leftovers on the table, so eat that."

"Alright. Take care."

Nami hurried briskly before she even made it out of the house. She made her way through the streets. There's a single bridge she'd to cross over before the intersection came into sight. It happened just then:

"Wha! Waah!"

The boy had plugged earphones and couldn't hear her voice.

"Watch out!"

And they crashed into each other.

The boy fell down the roadside with a shriek. During that time, Nami ran away.

"Ouch." He rubbed the dust off his butt, gathering himself up.

"Heyy!!"

***

The bell rang, and the homeroom teacher arrived with it.

Nami sat down at the front of the row by the window.

"Attention everyone," the teacher said, "there's a transfer student. Please enter!"

The front door slid open. A young boy entered the classroom. He was wearing the school uniform, his hair unkempt.

He's charming in his own way, the sort of air surrounding him. He went before the lectern, standing up to the class, which was all astir and abuzz.

"From today onwards, he'll be joining us. Please introduce yourself."

The cheerful boy grinned a megawatt smile.

"My name's Monkey D. Luffy. Back in my previous school, lots of people called me Luffy. I guess my hobby is sports in general, but I especially like soccer. I'm planning on playing soccer here, too. Uh, nice to meet you," he said, bowing.

"He's new in Japan, so you'd all help him adjust… You see that empty seat back there? Go ahead and take it."

"Roger that!"

He walked over to the empty seat. Greeting his new neighbour, he pulled his chair.

"Nami, you take care of Luffy since he's sitting next to you."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Though her response sounded indifferent, detached almost, there's a colour of fatigue glaring in her eyes. She sighed lightly in exasperation.

"Hello, I'm Luffy! Your name is Nami, right?"

"Yeah… Look, don't try to bother me during the lecture, okay? The first period is maths… Take this," Nami whispered, entrusting him her notes. "If you want anything, just call out to me after class. I'll answer everything I can."

"Shishishi! Thanks, Nami!"

***

It was twenty minutes into her lunch break. The cafeteria was brimming with students, though, Nami had avoided the crowds and found herself an empty seat, slowly tucking on her daily special meal.

"Nami is sitting alone again…"

"Seriously?"

Thanks to her seatmate, Nami'd just about had it with her growling stomach. Just as she used her chopsticks to raise a morsel of food to her mouth, someone clutched the seat and sat across from her.

"Oi, this is my seat!" Nami took a quick glance around the room. "That table over there looks empty, so please move."

"Hey, hey. I just want to speak with you…"

Nami'd a double-take as she realized that he's the same person she had crashed into this morning. She felt a bead of sweat running down her spine.

"Chillax, I'm not going to kill you. Let's introduce ourselves first. The name is Sanji—an intern in this huge cafeteria. Your name, miss?"

"N-Nami. What do you want from me?"

He looked over, noticing the study material sprawling across the table.

"Studying during lunch, you must be pretty desperate…"

He downed his headphones. "See this? It's broken…you broke it."

"Ah, but I don't have any money."

"Oh, you don't have to. If there's one thing you can do… Can you teach my friend?"

"Huh?"

"Listen… "

The bell rang, forcing Sanji to drop it for now. He heaved a heavy sigh.

"Give it some thought, okay?"

"Yeah… Will I be getting paid?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, then, I have to go now."

Just before she vanished, Sanji called after her.

"Uh, wait!" Nami stopped and shot him a questioning glare over her shoulder.

"Can I call you Nami-chan?"

"Hm."

***

"Ah, I hate this."

Having had swept the entire class, the colour in her tangerine eyes almost died. She sat back down on a chair, looking over the classroom.

Her phone chimed. "Huh, a message from big sis?"

«Hey, Nami!! Did mom tell you yet?! We might finally get out of that debt!! We gotta celebrate! Come home, quickly!»

Huhhhhhhhhhhhhh?

***