36 Chapter 36

36

Nami's day turned out to be weird, and that was saying something. It was mostly because of the three passengers hitching a ride on her small boat. She barely had any space left to stretch her leg.

She was desperately trying, for the sake of her own safety, not to comment on the stupidity of a person actually trying to navigate the sea without a map, compass, or general sense of direction. Of course, it was the straw hat-wearing boy called Luffy.

"Don't worry, there's only so and so chances of me dying out of hunger, thirst, or even drowning. So, if it didn't happen, then it won't happen." Luffy said, without a care in the world, "Though I hope if it did happen, I wish my body would wash up to shore, rather than being fish food. Fish don't eat rubber, do they Coby? Shishishi"

While Coby was sweating in exasperation, and the six-armed monkey just rolled his eyes, used to his antics. The pink-haired boy wondered what he meant by rubber… Luffy had forgotten to explain his devil fruit powers.

"That's not something to laugh about you know…" she said flatly. Luffy stopped laughing and looked at her, blinking. Before laughing again.

She wondered if it was the same by had cut a whole ship with a swing just a few hours ago, the same boy that took down a whole crew by himsef, the same boy who also happened to be the so-called Hero of Goa Kingdom.

The pink-haired boy seemed to already idealize the boy, because of his saving. She also heard the boy saying that Luffy was the grandson of the marine hero Garp. She was almost sure that was a lie. Why would the grandson of a marine hero want to be a pirate? The pirate king no less.

She didn't know if it was the charm, but people felt at ease around the straw hat boy. And that was saying something. Nami just couldn't profile the boy's character. It was all over the place.

"No, I guess it's not,"

Nami just rolled her eyes. She wasn't a person who was always cautious around people, even her own shadow to speak… and yet she kind of felt at ease around the young man. Almost safe actually.

And it wasn't only her, she could see that the pink-haired boy being much more at ease as the conversation went on.

Had she completely misread him? So far since they set out he hadn't made any move that could be considered hostile. He had just been chatting amiably with Coby and the monkey the entire time.

Nami felt a bit frustrated that he couldn't get read on the boy. But, she also was very interested in his strength for reasons… Maybe just maybe…

"Oh, what's your name anyway?" Luffy asked, "I mean I can you by your nickname, Flat…" But the lady cut her off.

"Nami…" then she winched, why did she have to give away her name. Ugh… it felt like she was playing into his mind games.

Luffy nodded and accepted this without further question. Which was good in a way, Nami didn't want to give any more information away.

There was no point giving him any other information that he could potentially use to find her, and the chances he'd ever set foot on her home island were slim.

Speaking of home… the boy had displayed some amazing strength. But would that be enough? Nami was no saint that would shy away from asking help —even using her charms if needed— if things got done.

But would asking someone like help with her situation? She was almost finished with collection funds… betraying Arlong, might get not only her, but the whole village killed. Though for some reason, her gut told her to trust the boy… she didn't know why.

Sure, he was unnaturally strong, but strong people didn't necessarily have to abuse their strength, even if most did. There was an air of confidence around him, as if it calmed people down. So she had some hope that he might be of help…

But Nami quickly shot that thought away. No way a human could ever fight a Fishman. They were ten times stronger than men. 'Yeah, I am just going to give him a ride and be done with it.' she told herself, then blinked, 'That came out wrong.' But then she looked at Luffy, he might have a goofy smile, but damn that was a body. She shook her head, it wouldn't work out. And anyway, the boy was aiming to be a pirate.

Asking the Marines for help would be much better in her comparison. Who knows Luffy might be more dangerous than he let on. But those abs though…

"Yes, take a picture will you." Luffy said amused, before putting his hands behind his shoulder, flexing his abs, "These babies can shred cheese…"

The girl hid her blush. And didn't say anything, just focused on navigation. Yes, because it wasn't like she was a pervert...