Don't Assume

by Kyrathel

Summary:

Luffy meets Law online playing a game. He isn't really what he thought she was...

OR

Luffy sucks at playing a game online and stumbles across a grumpy person who ends up becoming an important part of his life. Romance?! He just wanted to play a game!

Chapter 1: 1

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“I can’t believe you managed to beat that one!”

 

“Yeah, and the mace dropped!”

 

Luffy raised his shoulders again in annoyance as his friends continued to yell around at each other at the table they were occupying. He felt a burst of anger as he eyed each member of his fairly large group of friends who were flashing their phones to each other, possibly showing different things. They were always so loud lately , which wasn’t usually a problem for him, but… ever since they had all downloaded that stupid game…

 

Luffy was your average young adult. He was struggling through his college courses, living with way too many people, and spending all of his free time hanging out with his friends. He loved his friends, really, he did, but around a month ago, one of them had suggested that they try out an online game. Luffy didn’t remember what Usopp had called it, Crafting War World or something, but Luffy had relented after several days of badgering. He put together his measly allowance that Gramps left him each month to afford the ridiculous monthly cost… just for his friends to surpass him and leave him behind in the starting zone. They were level 50 and talking about some sort of dungeon raid while Luffy’s Mugiwara was stuck at level 6, trying to get past those stupid little guys with the swords that were blocking his way out of the starting area. It was all so frustrating. 

 

“Luffy, you gonna play with us tonight?” Zoro asked with a grin. “We are gonna chill at the Baratie to get free food. I’m gonna make another character. I can catch up to you pretty fast.”

 

That was what they always said. But it never happened. They always wanted to do level 50 stuff. Luffy didn’t even feel like going out to eat because of how much he hated how they had abandoned him, even if Sanji’s food was to die for. 

 

So Luffy simply muttered his refusal which was immediately drowned out by Usopp’s excited glee over something dumb.

 

The night came quickly and suddenly his entire group of friends were busy with something or other. Luffy found himself seated on the living room floor of his large, shared apartment, hunched over in front of his laptop, trying for the sixteenth time that hour to pass the same group of enemies again. He made it farther than he had gotten before and raised both hands up to cheer before his character dropped dead, causing him to instead curl his hands in exasperation. He slammed his fists on the table in annoyance and nearly slammed shut the laptop but movement at the corner of his screen had him hesitating. 

 

There was a level 50 person killing all of the enemies! 

 

Luffy clapped his hands together excitedly as they all dropped dead and then widened his eyes as the character then resurrected him! He accepted it as soon as it prompted him to. 

 

He immediately clicked onto the person who saved him and emoted a hug before opening a chat window. 

 

thank yooooou!!!!! youre so cool! ive been stuck here for a month! :) :) :) !!!!!!!

 

Luffy moved his character around three steps, intending to explore the newly accessible world, before he received a response that had him dropping his jaw in disbelief. 

 

 It isn't even hard. Might want to try an easier game. 

 

Luffy closed his mouth once it started to feel dry. What a rude person! He licked his lips several times as he thought of a retort, flexing his fingers angrily over his keyboard. He stopped his character’s walking and began to type again. 

 

you dont need to be so rude!!! maybe I was just having a computer problem!!!!!

 

There. That was believable. 

 

The response came immediately. 

 

Operator error, more like. 

 

Luffy stuck his tongue out at the screen before he narrowed his eyes, typing quickly. 

 

well if youre so good at this game why are you wasting your time on a low level area LOSER!!!!

 

Luffy peered at the name of the person. Deathcomes . Fucking weirdo. And it was a priest, which didn’t even make sense! Luffy opened another chat window with Zoro, who was playing his own character named Marimo , ready to vent to him about his experience, but he received another message before he could type one word. 

 

Why have you been here a month

 

Luffy hesitated. Should he even talk to the stranger? They were clearly rude. But they did help him. And now they were being nice. He chewed his lip and closed his window with Zoro. He was too busy for him anyways, all of his friends were, in their stupid dungeon. Luffy hesitated several times before typing slowly to the stranger who was still lingering next to his character. 

 

my friends ditched me cause i didnt have a mouse and now i got one but im alone and it is hard for me to understand the quests sometimes

 

Why did he say that?! It was a stranger! Was he really venting his problems to a stranger on the internet? 

 

The response came quickly. Luffy adjusted his legs underneath him. 

 

Ah, that’s shitty. The quests can be vague sometimes. 

The mobs in this zone aren’t scaled correctly either and it makes it tough for new players who do not have the experience. 

They should be updating this area within the next few months with a new patch. 

 

Luffy turned his character around and walked back up to the priest, who was still standing in the same spot next to those corpses that were still sparkling with unlooted loot. Another message came before he could think of what to respond. 

 

I have a priest at level 7 if you’d like company. 

 

Luffy widened his eyes. His own friends wouldn’t play with him but this strange mean person would?! 

 

Luffy responded immediately, possibly slightly too excitedly. 

 

yes please!!!!!!!1

 

The priest immediately disappeared. Luffy vibrated excitedly in anticipation, nearly knocking his mouse off of the table. Around six minutes went by before he suddenly received a group invitation from Deathcomés . He hurriedly accepted before staring at the small chat window in wonder. 

 

Hello. 

 

He stared blankly at the party chat, licking his suddenly dry lips. He had an opportunity to catch up with his friends. This was it. If this stranger could help him level…

 

Hello?

 

Luffy quickly typed out a response. 

 

hiiiiiiiiiiiii :)!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

He quickly opened his map but the screen was abruptly closed as his character fell, dead. The enemies had respawned. He grew nervous immediately. Would the stranger leave now? Would he get upset? Luffy didn’t want to lose his new friend so soon, even if he was really grumpy…

 

The message he received calmed down his worries. 

 

Just release your spirit and resurrect at the graveyard. 

 

Luffy swallowed and followed the directions. He blinked blindly as his screen flashed pure white and quickly clambered to his feet to turn on a light. He hadn’t even realized how dark it had gotten. 

 

He plopped back onto the floor and folded his legs underneath him again. He then spoke to the ghost lady at the graveyard and resurrected himself. Another message was waiting for him. 

 

Run to the town. I’ll meet you there. 

 

Luffy had no idea where the town was. He peered at his map helplessly and must have been obvious about his cluelessness because his new friend typed again. 

 

Do you use any addons? You might want to download a few. 

It makes it easier to understand. 

 

Luffy typed a response.

 

whats an addon

 

He began to jump in place. What was an addon? Did Zoro and his friends use those? They were way better at the game than he was. They probably knew. He quickly grabbed his phone and dialed Zoro, propping the phone between his shoulder in his ear as he explored the new area around the graveyard he had resurrected at. 

 

“Luffy.” Zoro’s gruff voice greeted. “Sup? You need somethin’?”

 

“Zoro, what’s an addon?” He asked immediately, running in circles around a friendly NPC. Zoro was quiet for a moment. Luffy could hear the sounds of his friends laughing in the background of the call, along with the telltale sound of keyboards being tapped repetitively. 

 

“Well, you probably don’t have to worry about those.” Zoro said finally. “It’s mostly for serious players.”

 

Luffy scowled and stopped his character’s movements. “I’m serious, Zoro!”

 

Zoro chuckled. “Yeah, sure, Luffy. You aren’t really serious about anything. Well, except meat.”

 

“Yeah. Meat is good.” Luffy agreed before he realized Zoro was making fun of him. “Hey, that’s mean!”

 

“Anyways, Luffy, I’m about to do that dungeon we were talking about earlier. I’m gonna hop into Discord. You wanna join up?”

 

“And listen to you have fun? No thanks.” Luffy grumbled. Even though it was his Discord. 

 

“Well, talk to you in game then. Feel free to hop into Discord whenever. And I’ll bring you home some meat.” Zoro hung up and Luffy huffed in annoyance, allowing his phone to drop to the floor. He focused on the game again and realized that his new friend had been typing to him for a while. 

 

An addon is exactly how it sounds. 

It adds onto the content. 

People make them and allow others to download them to either make the game more user friendly or even make it cuter. 

 

There are some addons that have only one purpose and that is to make music play when certain things happen. 

 

There’s also addons that warn you about mechanics and even difficult questing mobs. 

 

You want me to send you a few? 

Do you have Discord or something? 

 

Luffy hummed a random song to himself as he pondered what had been typed. Was it fine to give such information to a stranger? He did seem nicer now than before… but Luffy had only known him for thirty minutes! 

 

He realized he didn’t care, shrugged his shoulders, and copied his Discord server link before pasting it into the party chat. He then tabbed over to his Discord to watch eagerly. He noticed his friends in one of the voice channels, made a face, and then jumped slightly when he saw the notification that a new person joined the server. 

 

Ahoy! The Surgeon of Death has docked. 

 

What a scary sort of name. 

 

Luffy immediately began to receive several messages in the game. 

 

Who just joined discord Luffy?

 

Did you invite that person?

 

That’s a creepy ass name. Don’t talk to strangers with names like that! 

 

Luffy rolled his eyes at the messages from Zoro, Nami, and Usopp. They were so nosy. Especially Usopp. 

 

Luffy received several private messages in Discord from his new friend immediately. The first was a slightly sassy message stating that he didn’t need to invite him to his server, but that made it easier to type to him. Luffy simply blinked at that. He then received a link to a download page and the following messages were different names of addons. Luffy left the installer running and responded to his friends in the order that he had received their messages. 

 

My new friend who is gonna level with me! 

 

Yeah I invited him! My new friend!

 

He’s really cool! 

He killed all those enemies that were blocking my way!

 

There. Those were nice responses for his nosy friends. 

 

He opened the newly installed client that had just finished downloading and chewed his lip anxiously. What now?

 

His new friend seemed to read his mind. He had already written an entire transcript of what Luffy needed to do next.

 

Luffy slowly followed each direction slowly to ensure he did it correctly before finally returning to his game screen around fifteen minutes later. He was surprised to see that same stranger, who was now playing a different priest, standing right next to him. 

 

Luffy followed him around for what seemed like an hour but turned out to be four. He didn’t realize how tired he was until his head nearly hit his keyboard. He blinked a few times at the screen, realizing that he would need to go to bed, as he had classes in a few hours, and that he might never get to hang out with that nice priest again. Surely he had his own friends and his own life... 

 

Luffy heard a strange noise and realized that he had a friend request. He then immediately received a private message. 

 

You’ve gotten slow. You tired? 

 

Luffy yawned loudly and he quickly typed a response. 

 

yea. i got classes in a few hours. 

i didnt see what time it was!!!! 

i was having too much FUN!!!!

 

His friend responded quickly. 

 

You’re so enthusiastic. Are you always like that?

 

Luffy didn’t know how to respond to that but luckily he didn’t need to, as he received another message. 

 

You better get to bed then. 

Off you go.

Did you enjoy yourself? 

 

Luffy couldn’t stop smiling. 

 

i cant believe this game is so fun. 

no wonder my friends got upset when i didnt want to level with them and they ditched me. 

but Im glad they did now cause i met you!!!!! 

 

The response was immediate again. 

 

Yeah, it’s a really cool game. 

I’m super impressed with my friends for developing it. 

Do you want to play again tomorrow? 

 

Luffy blinked at the two different surprising things. His friends had made the game?! And he wanted to play with Luffy again tomorrow?!

 

Luffy stayed awake for nearly another hour as he typed back and forth with his new friend. He learned many things, including the fact that his new friends’ friends had created the entire game and that Deathcomes himself had composed some of the music for it. Luffy accepted the friend request and grinned widely. 

 

Torafaruga. What an even stranger name. 

 

Get to bed already. 

 

Luffy chuckled to himself. He was having so much fun.

 

i am going!!!!!!!! 

see you tomorrow :)

 

He logged out before he could say anything else. His heart hammered in his chest. What was he doing? Why was he feeling like that? None of his friends had ever caused his heart to feel like that. Or maybe they did. Maybe he just didn’t remember because he met them so long ago. 

 

Luffy climbed into bed, still vibrating with excitement. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep and he knew it. He closed his eyes and watched the memories of the time he spent playing the game in his mind until he passed out from exhaustion.

 

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Notes:

This fic was an anon request and I will update as I finish. Very interesting premise with a lot of strange tie ins. I hope I did it justice and thank you for trusting me to bring your thoughts to life! I always write too much... but this was so fun to write!

Chapter 2: 2

Notes:

Thanks for the kudos and comments so far, it means a lot to me. Hope you enjoy the next chap ☀️

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The next morning found Luffy struggling to wake up a short few hours later. His eyes felt as though he had poured sand in them and they stung uncomfortably as he blinked at his ceiling. Staying up so late the previous night had been a mistake but he did not regret it in the slightest. He turned off his alarm and tried to make out the blurry clock on his phone. Six in the morning. He tossed his phone to the side. 

 

He groaned and sat up, rubbing uselessly at his eyes. It only seemed to make the stinging worse. Tears began to leak from both corners and he blinked helplessly as they burned uncontrollably. 

 

It turned out that three hours of sleep was not sufficient for him.

 

He checked his phone again, stared at the time displayed, and then shrugged his shoulders, curling back into the covers. Fuck it. He could miss a day of classes. He didn’t really care for school, anyways, and was only there so his gramps would get off his ass about joining the marines. 

 

Luffy managed to get a nice four hours of sleep before his phone began to ring. He slammed his hands all over his blankets blindly until he found the device, answering the call and nearly dropping the phone on his face. 

 

“Hello?” He asked sleepily. 

 

“Luffy! Where are you! I’ve been worried about you!”

 

Luffy yawned loudly. Of course it was Zoro. 

 

“Not feeling good.” Luffy lied, glad that Zoro could not see him. “Need sleep.”

 

“Oh, shit, really? Was it something you ate? Or are you feeling like you’re catching a cold? Fuck. I hope I don’t get sick. I have a tournament coming up. Did you take medicine? Fuck, I should have checked on you when I stopped by this morning to change. I thought you had left already.”

 

Luffy gulped. His throat was dry. He wanted water. “N-no. I didn’t take medicine. Just been sleeping. Gonna sleep some more.”

 

“Sleep is the best medicine, honestly.” Zoro admitted. “Fuck all those pills they tell you to take. I could get my arm cut off and as long as I sleep I will be better. Good idea, Luffy.”

 

Luffy yawned again, not really following what Zoro was saying. They went through the motions of saying goodbye before Luffy rolled out of bed, stomach twisting with hunger. He felt as though his jaw was going to split open with how big his yawn was and before he knew what he was doing, his laptop was opened on the living room table, turned on, and he was halfway into a sitting position over the hard floor. He blinked before proceeding to the shared kitchen to find breakfast, nearly tripping over his own feet.

 

Luffy lived off campus with a few of his friends. It was the only way to afford rent, as Luffy simply lived off of what gramps sent him and didn’t want to get a job. Zoro and Sanji were hardly there, as Zoro spent every hour he wasn’t in classes training at the gym, and Sanji was always busy helping his dad at their restaurant. Usopp was always at Kaya’s, practicing for his comedy shows, and Chopper never left his room, always studying. The apartment was very large, with three bedrooms plus a loft, that Sanji claimed for himself. Chopper and Usopp bunked together while Zoro and Luffy had their own rooms. Luffy was happy that Yamato had allowed them to live there.

 

How his busy friends had time to play a video game was beyond Luffy, but he understood that people always made time for something they enjoyed. Luffy had begged and pleaded to his gramps to get him a laptop, saying it was for school, but in reality, it was so that he could play the game with his friends. 

 

The same friends who left him behind after only a few days. 

 

Luffy pulled several black containers from the fridge that were labeled “LUFFY” with small sticky notes. Sanji always brought the leftovers for him. He set them next to his laptop and then tore off the lids as he logged onto the game. His heart pounded with anticipation but he didn’t know why. Not even the scent of delicious meat distracted him.

 

His new friend was already online. 

 

Luffy grabbed one of the large meat-filled buns from the container and shoved the entire thing in his mouth before typing a quick message as he chewed.  

 

good morning!!!!!!!!!!!

 

He received an immediate response.

 

Torafaruga is on DO NOT DISTURB. 

 

Luffy chewed slowly in thought. What kind of bullshit was that? He typed another message as he chewed thoughtfully. 

 

helllooooooo grumpy >:)

 

The same message pinged back to him and he pouted. He began to type a third message but another one got to him first.  

 

Good afternoon. I see you do not care for online availability. 

 

Luffy grinned. 

 

if you really wanted to be left alone you would not respond!!!!!

 

Luffy logged onto his now level 15 character and grinned when he immediately received a group invitation. 

 

That’s valid. 

Allow me to get some more coffee and we can begin playing. 

 

Luffy ate through all five of his food containers as he waited, making sure to wipe his hands on his shirt before he touched his keyboard. He accepted his group invitation happily, still not believing that he was playing with his new online friend. Had he been waiting for him? Didn’t he have more important things to do? 

 

He grinned when he received the next messages. 

 

I’m back. 

Thanks for waiting. 

Let’s begin.

 

He followed his friend closely over the course of the afternoon, slamming the attack key wildly to kill each and every enemy they encountered. One enemy took a particularly long time to kill and Luffy breathed a sigh of relief as Deathcomés survived, even if his warrior had died. He was running back to his corpse when he received some confusing words in the chat box. 

 

Are you using any other skills besides auto attack? 

I’ve been checking the damage meter. 

 

Were there other things he needed to be doing? And what was a damage meter? 

 

He received another message before he could respond. 

 

Disregard that. 

I know you are new to this game. 

We will head to the main city now so that you can train your skills. 

I am not very experienced with melee classes but I will watch a video about what skills you should be using. 

It will make our experience easier. 

I should be able to explain it to you well enough. 

 

Luffy swallowed thickly, realizing just how bad he was at the game. 

 

okay thank you!!!!! i just have one button!!! looks like a little sword!!!

 

He resurrected right as he received another message. 

 

Yeah, I believe you are just toggling the auto attack on and off. 

That was my bad. I didn’t really explain anything about combat, did I? 

 

Luffy then sat patiently as his friend began to explain to him the different skills and types of abilities in the game. His stomach suddenly rumbled and he realized he was hungry and thirsty. Where had the entire afternoon gone?

 

He jumped up from his spot on the floor, hissing through his teeth as his back protested heavily at the movement. He limped to the kitchen as his leg erupted in tingles, gritting his teeth as he retrieved more food from the fridge. He was out of his own food and shrugged as he dug into the boxes labeled “MARIMO” and grabbed two cans of the weird flavored sparkling water that Sanji always bought that tasted like perfume but he liked the tingles on his tongue. He returned to his computer and felt his cheeks tint pink as he read the new messages. 

 

I can explain it to you in Discord if that’s easier. 

Do you have a microphone? 

 

Luffy quickly typed a response, stomach flipping.

 

yeah I do!!! uhhhh yeah we can discord! ill pull you to my locked channel so if any of my friends are online they dont bother us!!

 

Luffy was suddenly nervous. Was it fine to voice chat with strangers? But he did know this guy now… he had helped him so much for two days now. That was fine. He barely knew any of his other friends before they began to hang out every day. What was the difference? 

 

Luffy opened Discord and quickly entered his “Captain’s Quarters” channel. It was unable to be accessed by anyone except him. He had never used it before. He noticed that his friend Robin was in the channel labeled “deck” and frowned. Why was she online by herself? Was she waiting for someone?

 

Luffy felt so nervous. What was he supposed to do? What if Robin said something weird? What if she told their other friends that he was inviting a strange person to the server? 

 

He panicked as “Surgeon of Death” joined the same channel as Robin. He stared as their little circles lit up quickly. Had they spoken?! Luffy quickly moved his friend to his channel. But now he was even more nervous! What did he say?!

 

His friend took the first step. 

 

“Hello. Nice to officially meet you. You must be Mugiwara-ya.”

 

Luffy felt his jaw drop. The voice was so deep and smooth. It felt amazing to listen to. Luffy wanted to listen to it over and over again. 

 

Luffy swallowed and quickly pressed his push-to-talk button. 

 

“H-hi!” He said, clearing his throat. “Y-yes. You must be…”

 

“You can call me Trafalgar.”

 

Luffy’s eye twitched. What did he say?

 

“Torrrr… got it.” Luffy muttered. “A-anyways, tell me about the attacks!”

 

His friend was silent for a moment and Luffy realized he was staring at the tiny profile picture. It appeared to be a white dog of some sort. What was that? 

 

Luffy tabbed over to the game and gulped. 

 

“Right. Go ahead and follow me. I’ll tell you about warriors.”

 

Luffy suppressed a shiver at that voice. It was so soothing. So amazing. Luffy didn’t have that sort of reaction with any of his friends before. Well, maybe Zoro had a nice voice, but…

 

Luffy found himself struggling to listen to the words being said to him because of how nice the voice was to listen to. It wasn’t rough like Zoro’s or even Sanji’s. It was deep, probably deeper than his own voice, but something about it was almost soft. Luffy followed each direction in a trance, learning skills and spending his gold and dragging the skills onto his action bars. He read the descriptions and realized that the game had way more to it than he thought. 

 

“And that’s why it’s important to use that skill to power up another one. You’ll do more damage that way and we will kill things a lot faster. And remember to use the one that looks like a bloody fist to heal yourself after you kill something. Any questions?”

 

Luffy swallowed. 

 

“Also, you can change your Discord settings so that your microphone is triggered by your voice so you don’t have to keep clicking a button.”

 

Luffy then followed the instructions on how to change that setting. A few minutes later he regretted it as Zoro and Sanji arrived home and he realized the microphone picked up other people’s voices as well. 

 

“Yeah, and the stoplight on Gray is busted!” Sanji said angrily, slamming the door. “The traffic outside of the Baratie is horrible lately!”

 

“Stoplights don’t really matter.” Zoro muttered, placing his swords against the umbrella stand. “And I don’t care about your shit restaurant.”

 

“What the fuck did you say, Marimo?!” Sanji raised his fist but stopped upon noticing Luffy at the coffee table with his computer. “Oh, hey, Luffy. You feeling any better? I brought you some shrimp. Why are you sitting on the floor?”

 

Luffy kept quiet, worried that his new friend would hear his voice. 

 

“Luffy? Hello?” Zoro frowned and crossed his arms. “Oh, are you playing the game? What level are you now?”

 

“Twenty-one.” Luffy muttered, a spike of anger causing him to forget that he didn’t want to talk. “No thanks to you!”

 

“Oh, yeah. He’s still mad.” Sanji muttered. “I knew that game was a bad idea.”

 

“You just are mad that you played a mage. ” Zoro said, amused as he set his own bag on the sofa. “Mages are shit.”

 

“Rogues are shit.” Sanji countered. Zoro rolled his eyes. 

 

“Here, Luffy, you can use my headset so you can hear the game over this perv.” Zoro muttered, going into his bag. He pulled out a black headset and handed it to Luffy before glancing at his screen with a frown. “Oh, you’re in Discord with someone? Who is that? That the guy who joined last night?”

 

“My friend.” Luffy defended. “Who actually wants to play with me!”

 

Zoro rolled his eyes and knelt down to plug the dongle into Luffy’s USB port. Luffy pulled on the headset and cleared his throat. 

 

“Sorry, Torao.” He said immediately. “My roommates just got home.”

 

“Oh, I could hear everything.” His friend responded with a slightly humored tone. “The microphone will pick up other voices as well. I guess I should have asked if you had other people around.”

 

“Sorry, Torao.” Luffy pouted slightly. 

 

“Wait, what are you calling me?” His friend suddenly asked, now sounding slightly annoyed. “It’s that some sort of joke about my name?”

 

“Huh? I dunno, it’s kinda hard to say. Torao is pretty close I think. I’m not making fun of you.”

 

His friend was eerily silent. Luffy followed him in the game as he continued to run toward an area that was very green. Luffy was afraid that he somehow upset his new friend and darted his eyes around his apartment. Zoro and Sanji were setting up their own computers on the kitchen island, mumbling insults to each other. 

 

“It’s Trafalgar.” His friend finally said. Luffy chewed his lip.

 

“Truff-la-”

 

“Trafalgar.”

 

“Traf… fy.”

 

His friend was silent again. They got onto a weird flying-type ship. 

 

“Alright, that’s fine.” Torao finally said, seemingly giving up on getting Luffy to pronounce his name correctly. “Also… do you have any professions?”

 

Luffy played the game for a good few hours, chatting happily and learning more things than he had learned the previous night. Zoro kept shooting strange looks at him the entire time. 

 

Zoro eventually needed his headset for his dungeon group, as his laptop’s mic didn’t work, and Luffy pouted but allowed Zoro to take it. Torao had been mid-explanation and his soft, deep voice suddenly echoed throughout the living room, drawing the attention of both Zoro and Sanji. 

 

“- and then you’ll want to make sure that you are not going to a new zone with your bags full. Because then you won’t have any space to loot anything. And that’s really annoying. My friend always did that shit. How many slots do your bags have?”

 

Luffy felt his cheeks heating as his friends stared at him in disbelief. 

 

“Um, I have one bag.” Luffy said. “It’s green and it has six slots.”

 

Torao was quiet. Luffy chewed his lip anxiously. 

 

“Okay. That’s pretty bad. Let me get on my other priest and I’ll give you some bags. There’s a lot of quests coming up where we will need a lot of space. Stay right there.”

 

Luffy could sense that his friends wanted to say something so he muted his microphone. He gestured quickly to them.

 

“Luffy, who is that?” Sanji demanded, not wasting a second. “Why is he so nice? Just giving out bags like that? Those are expensive.”

 

“Sounds fishy. You never know who’s on the internet.” Zoro said sternly. “Don’t give any personal information. He could be a serial killer.”

 

“I’m not stupid.” Luffy muttered, feeling annoyed. “He’s just my new friend. You guys are being annoying.”

 

He unmuted himself to end the conversation. 

 

“You’re such a nice guy, Torao, thank you.” He said, giving an angry glance to Zoro. Zoro rolled his eyes and focused back on his computer. 

 

“Huh. A nice guy. That’s new.” Torao muttered, voice sounded weird. “I’m just helping you out. That’s all.”

 

Luffy didn’t know how to respond to that. He didn’t like talking with his friends around.

 

As if he could tell, Torao typed in the group chat. 

 

Are your friends giving you a hard time? 

 

Luffy quickly typed a response.

 

they are being kind of annoying that im talking to you 

 

He glanced up at Sanji, who was definitely listening to every single thing Luffy and Torao said. 

 

That’s why I enjoy living alone. 

Or sometimes I like to go to a cafe and just bring my laptop to do my own thing. 

People are always too nosy for their own good. 

They seem like good friends regardless. 

 

Luffy spent the next hour just typing with Torao, though they both stayed in the Discord together. Torao did indeed trade Luffy some bags, which was nice. Luffy found himself grinning and jumped slightly when Sanji suddenly set a plate of food in front of him. 

 

“Here you go, Luf.” He said, smiling softly. “You having fun?”

 

“Yeah, it’s so fun!” He said excitedly. “Torao is so cool! He knows so much about the game!”

 

“Ah, is that so? That’s nice. You want something to drink, too?”

 

“Do we have any soda?” Luffy asked immediately. “That flower water you got tastes weird.”

 

Zoro snickered and Sanji glared. “Oh, so you’re the one drinking my sparkling water?”

 

“Cook blamed me for drinking his water.” Zoro said around a laugh. “I knew it was you!”

 

Luffy giggled. “Shishishi, sorry, Zoro! That water is totally gross!”

 

Sanji stalked toward Zoro to fight with him again. Luffy assumed he was never getting a beverage and focused on his game again.

 

He followed Torao through a strange tunnel, munching on whatever food Sanji gave him. Luffy enjoyed crispy shrimps and wild rice and avoided the grilled zucchini, pushing them off the plate onto the table. 

 

He chewed slower once he saw Torao’s newest messages. 

 

That’s an interesting laugh.

Kind of cute. 

 

Luffy quickly glanced around to make sure his friends wouldn’t see, feeling his cheeks getting hot. He choked slightly on the rice, earning a shout from Sanji to slow down while eating. Luffy chugged the glass of dark liquid he didn’t notice Sanji had brought him, wincing at the sting of the carbonation.

 

thats embarrassing!!!!! He quickly typed. Why would Torao say something like that?! 

 

I apologize. I won’t say embarrassing things to you. 

I’ll admit, I am having a lot of fun playing with you and talking to you. 

A shame we have to type now.

 

Luffy quickly responded. 

 

thanks! and yes I will go to the store and get my own headset so my nosy friends dont hear you 

 

Luffy finished his food and quickly grabbed all of the soggy zucchinis to put on his empty plate. Torao responded with a message that Luffy didn’t know what meant. 

 

That’s good.

I might have an extra one if you don’t want to spend money. 

 

Luffy glanced at his friends again. They definitely wouldn’t want Luffy to give out their address for Torao to mail the headset. It was tempting though, because he didn’t really have the money to buy one…

 

I heard your friends mention the Baratie. I actually live close to that restaurant. 

 

Luffy widened his eyes. What were the chances that his new friend lived so close by?! 

 

oh wow! yeah sanjis dad owns it!!! thats so cool!!! small world huh :)

 

“Luffy.” Zoro called. “Wanna go meet the girls at the bar?”

 

Luffy looked up. “At the Merry Go?” He asked excitedly. 

 

“Yeah. They want to give you some paperwork from today and I could use a drink.”

 

“Okay, sure.” Luffy typed quickly to Torao. 

 

gonna go out with my friends! want to play again tomorrow? 

 

Torao responded immediately. 

 

Very small world indeed. 

And of course. 

I’m off work the next few days so I will be around. 

Enjoy your night. 

Let me know about the headset.

Have a good time with your friends. 

 

Torao then disconnected from Discord and logged off simultaneously. Luffy closed his laptop after shutting down his own game and stood up to stretch. 

 

“Interesting friend you have there.” Zoro said, frowning deeply. “He just plays with you all day? Seems strange…”

 

“I’m level twenty-six!” Luffy said excitedly. “Torao is really patient and helps me a lot! I’m glad I met him.”

 

“Just be careful.” Sanji muttered. “There’s some real creeps on the internet. I’m glad he’s a guy, though. Sometimes they like to pretend to be women to swindle money out of unsuspecting guys.”

 

“Not that we would worry about that.” Zoro snickered. “Since Luffy has no interest in the opposite sex whatsoever.”

 

Luffy simply grinned. “Dating is boring. I like to have fun! Plus kissing is gross!”

 

Sanji rolled his eyes and Luffy ran off to his room to change his clothes. 

 

“Take a shower!” Zoro shouted, causing Luffy to giggle wildly. 

 

Luffy took a fast shower and then dressed in a red flannel and a pair of cutoff jeans. He slid his feet into his favorite sandals and combed his hair. He grinned at himself before messing up his hair. He quickly debated on buttoning up his flannel but decided to leave it open. He always got too hot, anyways.

 

They locked up the apartment and immediately headed to Sanji’s beat-up blue car. Luffy hopped in the backseat and grinned at his friends. 

 

“I hope they have some snacks!” He said excitedly. Zoro chuckled and Sanji rolled his eyes before muttering about how Luffy can’t appreciate fine dining. Luffy rolled down the window slightly and found himself excited to see his friends but slightly bummed out that he had to stop playing with Torao. He hoped he could enjoy himself. 

 

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Chapter 3: 3

Summary:

Luffy goes out with his friends. He does not have fun.

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Luffy felt distracted as the night progressed. It was always really fun to see his friends and hang out with them, but he found his mind going back to the fun he had been having with Torao. 

 

Robin had handed him a tan folder of several papers as soon as he had arrived at the bar and he had promptly left it on the counter, not even caring about his forgotten homework. He didn’t have time for that. He needed to make time for Torao. 

 

Torao was different than his other friends. He seemed calm and collected. Maybe he had a really cool job. He had to be cool to have friends who could make something like a video game. And the little fact that Torao had made some of the music? Luffy wondered what music he made and thought he should ask. 

 

The Merry Go was a small bar that always felt too hot. Luffy knew better than to wear a lot of clothes when he went, which was why he left his shirt unbuttoned completely. He felt like his body was always running hotter than everyone else’s. No one usually said anything to him. Sometimes people stared but… Luffy knew it was because of his scar. 

 

He quickly pushed those thoughts away. He didn’t need those memories. 

 

His friends laughed and drank and had a fantastic time but Luffy found himself distracted as he nursed a watered-down diet Dr. Pepper. He knew he could get a drink if he wanted to, but he was underaged and preferred to drink at home. Most of his friends were older than him by a few years, besides Usopp and Chopper. He briefly wondered if Torao was old enough to drink before pushing the thoughts away. He shouldn’t be thinking about Torao. He should be focusing on his friends!

 

… the same friends who had left him alone at the bar to have a drinking competition on the dance floor. Luffy’s eyebrow twitched. His friends were always leaving him behind!

 

But Torao didn’t.

 

He really wanted to go home and play the game with Torao. He imagined several ways he could improve his playing and wondered if Torao was playing right at that moment. Was he upset that Luffy had left? Or had he gone to bed already? Would he play without Luffy?

 

Vivi, one of his mutual friends, suddenly appeared in front of him. She was kneeling over with her hands in her hips, blue hair swaying around her in perfectly bouncy curls. Her outfit, if it could be called that, glittered and reflected with the changing lights around them. 

 

“You aren’t having fun!” She yelled over the loud music. “Do you want me to take you home?”

 

Luffy could have cheered. He eagerly nodded before downing the rest of his soda. He didn’t bother saying bye to his friends, not feeling like interrupting their loud cheers as they downed several shots. He also didn’t even care that Vivi had been drinking and probably shouldn’t be driving. He wanted to get out of there.

 

He should have known that being alone with Vivi would be annoying. 

 

Vivi managed to make the entire thirty minute drive back to his apartment extremely awkward. The car swayed like a boat through the empty streets.

 

“Yeah, Luffy! I could totally tell you were out of it. You have something on your mind? You can talk to me. I won’t tell anyone!”

 

Luffy knew that was a lie.

 

“I am fine.” He said flatly for the fifth time, staring out the window as the city passed them by. “Just wanna play my game.”

 

Vivi tsked at him. “You boys are so addicted to that game! Nami says it’s all you want to do lately! What about Boa, Luffy? She has been asking about you…”

 

Luffy tuned her out and remembered why he hated being alone with any of his female friends.

 

Vivi seemed to give up and moved to safer topics and around fifteen minutes later, they pulled up to his apartment. “Anyways, get some rest. Don’t stay up all night playing games, Luffy!” 

 

Luffy couldn’t get out of that car fast enough. He had never been so happy to see the terracotta tiles of his roof before! He hurried to his apartment, climbed the stairs and nearly tripped, and unlocked his door. He flipped on the light and excitedly slammed the door before locking it again. He plopped back onto the living room floor in front of his laptop without changing his clothes and turned it on. He tossed his keys on the table and anxiously tapped his fingers against the table. Would Torao still be online? Would he want to play some more? It was late, around midnight. Was it too late for him?

 

But he was online. 

 

Luffy received a message immediately. 

 

Oh, you’re back. 

Discord?

 

Luffy grinned widely and hurriedly opened that application as well. His previous conversation with Vivi was forgotten. Now, he could play with his new friend. Now, he could be comfortable. 

 

He joined Discord and couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips when he heard the sound of Torao joining. 

 

“Welcome back. ” Torao said softly, sounding so weird. “Let’s finish this zone.”

 

Luffy brushed it off. It was late. Maybe he was tired. 

 

He did not heed Vivi’s advice and ended up staying awake for entirely too long. He was fine with it. As long as he could play with Torao, he was happy. 

 

They killed countless monsters and looted amazing weapons, something that Luffy was way too excited about.

 

Zoro and Sanji returned around two hours later and the latter huffed at Luffy. He pointedly ignored him.

 

“Boa and Margaret showed up.” Sanji said angrily, slamming his keys on the kitchen counter. “Boa was asking where you were!”

 

Luffy still chose to ignore Sanji and loudly spoke over them so that Torao could hear still. 

 

“Sorry, my friends are back, did you say I need to jump off this cliff?”

 

“What? No? Get away from the cliff. Walk down the path like a normal person- oh. You jumped already. That’s fine. I’ll resurrect you. ” 

 

Luffy glared at his friends as they were suddenly on either side of him, trying to touch his laptop. 

 

“Hey, back off.” He said, trying to slide the computer toward him. “Zoro, stop being annoying!”

 

“Hey, Torao.” Zoro said with a snicker. “You aren’t sick of this guy yet?”

 

“Must be some weird guy.” Sanji muttered, turning the laptop toward him as Zoro held Luffy’s arms firmly so he could not interfere. Luffy fisted his hands up and tried to swing his arms. Sanji tapped away on his keyboard before frowning. “Boring. His picture is a dog.”

 

“Go away!” Luffy growled, twisting his body violently. “Why are you always picking on me? Go away!”

 

“Whoa. Luffy, it’s a joke.” Zoro said immediately, releasing his hold on Luffy. Luffy used his newly freed arms to shove Sanji away. “Why are you being like this?”

 

“I never bother you guys when you do your stupid things.” Luffy grumbled, turning his laptop toward him again. “You guys are being so annoying. Stop bothering me!”

 

Sanji and Zoro seemed to get the hint that Luffy was not wanting to deal with them and walked away, grumbling to each other. 

 

Luffy flushed deeply as he remembered that Torao could hear everything. 

 

“Sorry, Torao, thanks for rezzin’ me.” Luffy muttered. “Okay, what do I do now?”

 

Torao was quiet. Luffy began to feel anxious. Did Torao get sick of his friends? He knew it. They were so annoying-

 

“Sorry, Mugiwara-ya.” Torao finally said, voice slightly higher pitched. “My friend dropped off some food for me and was also being really annoying.”

 

“That’s okay.” Luffy crossed his legs underneath him and shot one last look at his friends. “Let’s just play.”

 

“Of course.”

 

Neither Zoro nor Sanji bothered Luffy again, for which he was grateful. He wasn’t really mad at his friends but they were being so nosy! An annoyed part of Luffy thought that they were purposely trying to sabotage him so that he could not catch up to their level and play with them. 

 

Luffy hummed to himself as he mined a node of ore, tapping his fingers on the glass table beneath his laptop. Torao was quiet again, though Luffy knew that he was there. 

 

The new town that they arrived in was kind of lame and Luffy made a face at his computer. “All these buildings are burned down!”

 

Torao made a sound that almost resembled a laugh. “Well, yes. The scourge invaded and the crusade thought that the best thing to do was burn everything to the ground. Make sure to loot the corpses for their badges.”

 

“This is so messed up.” Luffy grumbled but followed the instructions. 

 

The sun was beginning to come up when Torao let out a yawn. Luffy blinked and realized he was alone in the living room. When had his friends gone to bed?

 

“I think I’m going to make some coffee.” Torao said. “Then I’ll try to get some sleep, I guess.” 

 

“Huh?” Luffy yawned as well. “Coffee? Just go to bed, Torao.”

 

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

 

Luffy found himself smirking. “Go to bed. Don’t make coffee. Just get all snuggled up and hurry up and sleep so that we can play again!”

 

Discord was silent and Luffy thought that maybe Torao had been serious about him not telling him what to do and he almost apologized before he heard that almost-laughing sound again. 

 

“Alright. I’ll listen to you just this once, but don’t get used to telling me what to do.”

 

Luffy couldn’t stop smiling. “Can we play in a few hours?”

 

“Hmm, maybe we can. You don’t have any plans?”

 

“No.”

 

Another beat of silence. 

 

“Then I’ll see you in a few hours.” Torao finally said in a softer voice. “Good night, Mugiwara-ya.”

 

“Luffy.” Luffy blurted. 

 

“I beg your pardon?”

 

“You can call me Luffy. If you want.” Why was he suddenly so nervous? Why did he even say that?

 

But Torao laughed softly. That sound caused Luffy’s stomach to feel all tickly. 

 

“Very well, then. Good night, Luffy-ya.”

 

“G’night, Torao.” Luffy whispered before hurriedly leaving the channel. 

 

He didn’t allow himself to dwell on why he possibly told Torao to call him by his name and instead passed out as soon as his head hit his pillow. He dreamed of meat and sweets and woke up in a pile of his own drool. 

 

His heart skipped a beat excitedly as he sat up. He wiped his face quickly before scrambling to his feet and rushing to the bathroom, haphazardly grabbing clothes strewn across his room. 

 

He took the fastest shower that he had ever taken, which was a feat because he usually showered quite quickly anyways, and brushed his teeth while simultaneously pulling on a pair of shorts. He yanked on a slightly strange-smelling shirt before hurrying to the living room. He would do laundry later.

 

Zoro was sitting in the armchair, polishing his swords. Luffy scowled at him, not forgetting how annoying he had been the previous night, before plopping onto the floor in front of his laptop. He clicked the power button before resting his elbows on the glass top to watch it load. 

 

“Mornin’, Luf.” Zoro said, slightly amused. Luffy grunted in response without looking at him. Zoro chuckled softly. “I see you are eager to play. Gonna play with Torao?”

 

“Maybe.” Luffy muttered. “If he’s online.”

 

“He seems like a cool dude. It’s super nice that he’s helping you so much.”

 

Luffy raised an eyebrow and finally looked at his friend. “Why are you suddenly being so nice about Torao? You were so annoying about him yesterday.”

 

Zoro shrugged. “It’s mostly cook bein’ annoying. I think it’s great that you made a new friend.”

 

Luffy didn’t completely believe him but refocused his attention on his screen. He typed in his password and opened his game launching client before resting his chin on his hands.

 

“I’m heading out.” Zoro said, standing up. The sound of his swords clanging against each other was loud in the otherwise quiet room. Luffy waved with one of his hands and Zoro ruffled his hair as he walked behind him. 

 

Torao was online, which Luffy wasn’t really surprised about. He wasn’t playing the game, but he at least had the client open. Luffy opened a chat window but Torao beat him to the message first. 

 

Morning. Discord?

 

Luffy yawned and opened the Discord client. He really should have expected Torao to want to chat. He was so talkative, now that Luffy thought about it. 

 

Torao was already in Discord when it loaded, in the same room as Robin again. Luffy bit his lip before joining the same channel. 

 

“ Luffy .” Robin greeted immediately. “ I was just about to head out to the library. I hope you have a lot of fun. ”

 

“Thanks, Robin.” Luffy said nervously. Robin left the chat. Luffy let out a breath, hoping that Robin hadn’t said anything weird-

 

“She’s very interesting.” Torao said, clearing his throat. “Good morning, Luffy-ya.”

 

Luffy’s stomach flipped excitedly, his previous nervous mood forgotten. He licked his lips and looked around to make sure that he was alone before responding. 

 

“Morning, Torao.” He greeted. “Did you sleep good?”

 

A chuckle. “No. But I’m on my third cup of coffee and I’m feeling pretty good, all things considered.”

 

Luffy frowned at that. He didn’t sleep good? “Why didn’t you sleep good?”

 

A hum that time. “You’re very curious today, aren’t you? Don’t you want to play?”

 

Luffy could tell it was a diversion. Torao clearly didn’t like to talk about himself. Luffy allowed the conversation to steer in a different direction, chewing his lip again. 

 

“Yeah, let’s play.” Luffy eventually said, logging into his character. “I got class later.”

 

Torao was quiet as they ran around an empty field teeming with dinosaurs and spiders. Luffy killed any and everything in his path, smashing them to death with his shield. He peeked at the time, feeling his stomach drop when he realized he only had four hours to play before he had to get to the campus for his stupid English class. He then groaned when he realized he had homework. 

 

“You alright?” Torao asked softly. Luffy jumped up onto a fallen tree. 

 

“Yeah, just bummed about school. I forgot to do my homework, too.”

 

“Do you need to stop playing then?”

 

Luffy snorted. “Nah, I’m gonna keep playing.”

 

There was a beat of silence. Luffy turned in his fifteen quests, always impressed at the path that Torao took them on. They always completed at least five quests at a time and turned them all in at once, which caused Luffy to gain nearly an entire level. It was a contrast to how Zoro and Sanji would play together, always bickering and complaining about how long questing took. 

 

“ I could help you.” Torao then said, character sitting on the dirt path. “ Come on. Let’s hurry so we can get back to playing.”

 

“What?” Luffy demanded loudly. “You want to do my homework?”

 

“Well, I don’t want to do it for you.” Torao snapped back. “But you clearly aren’t going to do it if I don’t assist you.”

 

Luffy gaped in surprise. He couldn’t tell if Torao was being nice or sassy. 

 

He wordlessly stood up and stomped to his room. He grumbled as he grabbed his forgotten backpack and stomped loudly back to the living room. He snatched the tan folder from the kitchen table that he had purposely forgotten at the bar that one of his dumb roommates had probably brought home and slammed it onto the coffee table.

 

Torao was laughing at him. Luffy glared at his computer and crossed his arms. 

 

“I thought you were cool.” He said firmly, causing Torao to quiet down. 

 

“ I didn’t realize you were such a funny guy.” Torao said, voice thick with amusement. “ It can’t be that much homework. It won’t take that long.”

 

Luffy gritted his teeth and logged his character out on the same dirt path before opening the stupid folder. He filed through the paperwork, noting that it was English work and Algebra. He grumbled again before laying the work out on the coffee table. He reached into his backpack for a pencil. 

 

“It’s math, too.” Luffy finally said. “Math and some sort of lab work with English.”

 

“ Must be grammar or sentence exercises.” Torao mused. “ What does it want you to do? Send me a photo of it through Discord.”

 

Luffy paused before frowning. “How do I send a picture?” 

 

“ Discord has an app for your phone. If you want.”

 

Luffy had to run back to his room to fish out his phone. He quickly downloaded the app, feeling a weird fluttering in his stomach as he did so. He logged in and plopped back onto the floor. He took a photo of each page of homework and sent it to Torao immediately. He heard a few clicks of a mouse before a soft hum. 

 

“I see. I can’t really help with the English, but I can just do it for you and you can promise me you’ll do it next time, okay?”

 

Luffy grinned. “The math, too?!”

 

“Tch. Don’t push your luck. I’ll help you do that.”

 

Luffy pouted. 

 

It took nearly two hours to finish all seven pages of Luffy’s homework. He grumbled the entire time, the words jumbled and the numbers confusing in his brain. Torao didn’t comment on the numerous times that he listed incorrect formulas and instead steered him into the correct direction. He did, however, interrupt Luffy several times as he read aloud a few sentences. 

 

“That’s better.” Torao said softly. “ You did a good job.”

 

A spark of something caused Luffy to flinch. He chewed his lip anxiously as Torao excused himself to the restroom. It wasn’t that he liked that Torao said he did a good job, but rather, he hadn’t heard that before. Gramps had never praised him and Ace hadn’t…

 

Thinking of Ace always soured Luffy’s mood. He pushed thoughts of his brother away and swallowed thickly. 

 

“ I’m gonna need to make some more coffee and then we can play until you need to leave.” Torao said after a few minutes. “ Give me another minute.”

 

Luffy’s stomach suddenly twisted painfully and he decided to get something to eat. How had he not realized how hungry he was?! He hadn’t eaten all day! What was wrong with him?!

 

He wildly grabbed a bunch of Sanji’s containers from the fridge, along with a half eaten bag of lentil chips and a box of cookies. He carried his pile of food to the living room and dropped it onto the table over his completed homework. He opened each container, mumbling the contents to himself as he did so. Lots of green disgusting-looking things and white purees of some sort… he skillfully piled one of the seven containers with all of the meat before pushing away the vegetables with a slight face. 

 

“ What are you doing?” Torao asked. “ Are you talking to yourself?”

 

“Sanji always brings home vegetables and I don’t want them.” Luffy muttered. “And he only buys weird healthy chips and I’m so hungry. I need real food!”

 

“ Interesting. So you’re a picky eater.”

 

“Well, duh.” Luffy rolled his eyes and shoved several pieces of shrimp into his mouth before continuing to speak with his mouth full. “I pick a food I wanna eat and I eat it!”

 

“Oh my god, don’t talk with your mouth full, that’s disgusting.”

 

Luffy snickered. “You’re a weird guy, Torao. You can’t even see me eating. How do you know it’s disgusting?”

 

Luffy munched his strips of chicken. Torao was silent, though he could hear a few noises. 

 

“I’m not going to comment on that. Let’s play.”

 

“You got your coffee, you grump?” Luffy didn’t know why he was teasing so much. It was fun. 

 

“ Are you really calling me a grump? That’s really mature. Then again, you seem like a baby who won’t even eat his vegetables, so I’m not surprised.”

 

Luffy choked, widening his eyes. “ Huh? Why are you being so mean?!”

 

“ Don’t dish it if you can’t take it.”

 

Luffy flushed a deep red. “I can take anything you give to me.”

 

Torao seemed to choke on his coffee. Luffy pushed his food away, stomach too full of tickling bugs to have an appetite. 

 

They were silent for a few minutes. The only noise was Luffy's crinkling box of cookies. He shoved three cookies into his mouth at once when his stomach stopped feeling so weird. 

 

“Are you… flirting with me?” Torao then asked quietly. Luffy glanced around to make sure he was alone before he chewed his cookies slowly, mind churning with what he could possibly say. Was he flirting with him? Why would he do that? 

 

Flirting was… Luffy did not flirt. Luffy didn’t care about that kind of stuff. He never had and he never would. No. He wasn’t doing that. 

 

“Uh, no.” Luffy said after he swallowed, scratching the back of his head. “Don’t get all weird, Torao.”

 

Torao was quiet again before a scoff sounded. “ Right. Cool. Let’s get back to leveling. I want to make it to the next town and it’s on the other side of this zone.”

 

Afterwards, when Luffy was sitting in his English class, pointedly not listening to his boring teacher drone on and on about whatever, he wondered if, for some reason, Torao had been flirting with him. 

 

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Chapter 4: 4

Notes:

Hello, I changed the warnings because as I was reviewing my chapter subjects, there will be mentions of things that might be triggering to *some* people. I will warn if I feel it is needed. Thank you for kudos and comments as well!

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School was always a drag. Luffy didn’t even know why he even bothered to go. 

 

His teachers were annoyingly surprised when Luffy handed in all of his homework. He simply scratched the back of his head and took his seat to space out, as he usually did in those classes. 

 

Luffy took four classes. English, math, gym, and history. He didn’t even bother with history at all. Who cared about that? It reminded him of his gramps and he did not like that. 

 

Gym was an easy class because Luffy had boundless energy, but it was only once a week. It usually consisted of running, which Luffy always finished too fast. It wasn’t even fun. Luffy knew that school would somehow ruin something fun. 

 

English and math were different for him. Luffy always had trouble with English, because the words and letters liked to jump around, or words liked to change what they meant, but he always struggled along without worry. 

 

Luffy was just bad at math. 

 

He yawned for the fifth time in fifteen minutes before slumping in his seat and pulling out his phone. The math professor, a stocky woman that always gave Luffy a hard time, simply rolled her eyes and continued to drone on about formulas. 

 

Luffy perked up slightly when he noticed that he had a Discord notification. He knew it was Torao without even opening it. 

 

Have a good time, Luffy. 

 

Luffy felt those annoying bugs in his stomach again but ignored them. He typed a quick message. 

 

Hi Torao!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The response took several minutes to arrive. Luffy almost had to pay attention to his professor!

 

Aren’t you in class?

What are you doing messaging me for?

Don’t get in trouble. 

Put your phone away.

 

Luffy puffed out his lips. 

 

Don’t be so bossy!!!! Don’t tell me what to do!!!!

What are you doing 

 

I made some coffee. I was watching a movie on my computer. Now I’m being distracted. 

 

Oh you should pay attention then

 

You’re one to talk. You should be paying attention. 

 

Why you’ll just help with my homework again later right :):):):)

 

I’m not going to do your homework for you. Don’t make it a habit. 

 

Nonono I just want you to heeeelp me. Not do it for me!!!’

 

Likely story. You always get what you want, don’t you Luffy?

I’m not a pushover. I’m not going to do what you tell me to. I’m not going to help you if you purposely ignore your professors. 

 

Wow your mean Toraooooooo

 

Luffy didn’t receive a response and pouted at his phone. No matter how many times he refreshed Discord, there were no new messages. Had Torao fallen asleep or something?

 

He stared into space a few inches to the left of his professor, blinking slowly. The professor really had a way of making even boring math seem even more boring. It must have been some sort of boring competition that the teachers held. Be as boring as possible and see how many students fell asleep. They probably laughed about it in their teacher lounge.  

 

Luffy’s phone vibrated and he refocused his attention on it. 

 

Oh I’m mean? I’m mean because I helped you with your homework, huh?

Wow, Luffy.

 

Well you did make me do my math you didn’t even do it for me 

 

Do your friends do everything for you?

 

No they won’t do it either 

Chopper says I’ll never learn if I keep trying to bribe Zoro to do my homework but honestly it’s really funny to watch Zoro struggle

 

If you genuinely require my assistance, I will gladly provide it. 

No bribing needed. 

 

Awwww you just wan to spend time with me 

 

I’m going to ignore that. 

 

Luffy felt his stomach fill with bugs again. He felt slightly sick and took a deep breath. What was he doing? Why was he feeling like that? 

 

Looking at his phone caused the feeling to become more prominent. He glanced around the classroom, noting that his professor wasn’t paying him any attention. He slumped further into his seat before responding and surrendering to his flopping stomach. 

 

Do you like playing with me torao

 

Of course I do. I’ve been doing a lot. 

Why?

 

Well………if you do my homework for me since your so much faster and your good at it we get to play faster!!!!!!

 

…

Am I being manipulated?

This feels like manipulation. 

Wow. I didn’t expect this from you. I’m honestly surprised. 

 

Is that bad

 

For me, definitely. For you…

I guess I’m doing math homework tonight. 

 

Luffy found himself grinning wide. 

 

Your the best!!!!!!!! So nice!!!!! Thanks Torao!!!!!!!

 

I’m going to make you help, though. So you better be ready. 

 

You don’t want my help. 

 

Oh, wow. I’m surprised that you actually use other types of punctuation besides exclamation marks. 

 

I know all of em, periods, explanation marks, questing marks 

Using em is dumb!!!!!!

. . . . ? . ? . ? . ? 😋

 

Are you an emoji user, Luffy?

 

No 😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 def not!!!!!!!!

 

I’m not sure what I got myself into. 

I should have let the defias kill you. 

 

You mean keep killing me bc they killed me like 50 times!!!!!!!!! Why are they there!!!!!

 

It’s impressive that you got to level on your own. 

 

Nono Zoro helped me

Then he abandoned me cause he’s dumb 

 

I see. 

 

What are you doing rn Torao

 

I am staring at my paused movie while my coffee continues to get cold. 

 

Oh you should prob heat it up then and you should prob push start on the movie 

Who watches paused movies 

Youe so weird Torao

 

Are you messing with me?

 

Your

 

My what?

 

What?

 

My what??

 

No I was correcting my typo Torao omg 🤣

 

You corrected it incorrectly regardless. 

 

You’re 

 

There you go. 

HEY I AM NOT WEIRD, by the way.

Why don’t I want your help?

 

Lmao

You’re grumpy and weird 

But I rlly appreciate that you helped with my homework thanks 😋

And you don’t want my help bc you’re soooooooo sossoso smart you don’t even need it!!!! ❤️

 

Like I said, I’ll help you. I’m nice. 

 

Yea you’re a really nice guy ❤️

 

Torao didn’t respond and Luffy blinked. Were the hearts too much? Why was he sending hearts?! He never sends hearts. Not even to his friends! His stomach flipped with bugs again. Why wasn’t Torao responding? Did he not like the hearts?

 

Luffy glanced around the classroom again to distract himself from the lack of response. Everyone was packing up their stuff. He never took anything out of his bag so he just tapped the table incessantly in anxiety. A few people glanced at him and he grinned at them in response. He checked his phone one last time, frowning at the lack of response. Where had Torao gone? Was he suddenly busy?

 

He sent another message before putting his phone away. 

 

I’m goin home!!! Better be ready to play all night!!!!!!

 

The message came immediately. 

 

Of course.

I look forward to your return. 

 

###

Chapter 5: 5

Notes:

Luffy realizes that things are not always as they seem.

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Luffy found his nights for the next several weeks spent playing with Torao. The man was always patient and mostly friendly and didn’t say any more embarrassing things. Luffy didn’t bring up the flirting again and neither did Torao, though he did start playing in his room for more privacy on top of always keeping his phone with him for his constant Discord texting, something that his friends had noticed immediately . Luckily they knew not to say anything to him.

 

He talked about anything and everything to Torao. Torao was a great listener and even responded with different pieces of advice or opinions. Luffy was really starting to enjoy Torao’s company. His own friends were even excited that Luffy was getting closer to level 60 and would soon be ready to play with them. Luffy felt bittersweet about that and hoped that they would invite Torao to play, too. 

 

Luffy didn’t know what the new warmth in his chest meant whenever he thought about Torao but figured it was probably nothing to worry about. 

 

Torao even regularly assisted Luffy, strangely enough, with his homework. Not tutoring per se, but simple answers to questions that Luffy was struggling with and even recommendations, though most of the time he ended up doing his math homework for him. Luffy was suddenly turning in his assignments more frequently, surprising all of his teachers and improving his grades.

 

Luffy finished his last essay for his writing class with a big grin on his face. He had mostly written the entire thing himself, which meant that he had typed all of his ideas down and sent them to Torao, who had organized it and made it make sense. His classes would then be done until the fall semester and he had passed all of them with at least a C, which was good enough for him. He was excited to have even more time to spend with Torao. 

 

Torao seemed to have a weird work schedule. He would be at his job for two days at a time before being off for three, but sometimes he worked for the whole week. The hours were all over the place. Luffy found it very odd but didn’t know if asking about his career was weird. He didn’t want to make Torao uncomfortable. What line was there when it came to asking too many questions? What type of questions were forbidden when it came to not flirting with online friends?

 

Because sometimes, it felt like flirting.

 

Luffy had blurted out a few weeks prior that it had been his birthday. Torao had immediately bought him a gift, a cute little cat companion pet in-game. Luffy had tried not to stare at the personalized note too long or even read into its true meaning. 

 

A cute cat for a cute guy. 

 

Luffy had immediately named the cat Cutiepie. Torao hadn’t said a thing about it, though he definitely saw it. Luffy made him pet the cat every time they logged in together.

 

But Torao had helped Luffy so much with his classes. Surely, they were good friends. So it would probably be acceptable for Luffy to ask about his career, right?

 

Luffy decided he would ask that night. They hadn’t played together for a few days and Luffy knew that Torao was going to spend all night with him. Luffy’s favorite part of his weeks were when he pulled all-nighters with Torao. The man hardly, if ever, slept and Luffy always tried his best to keep him company, even if he could usually only last a few hours after midnight. Luffy always woke up the next morning with Torao waiting patiently in the Discord call, usually doing something else but immediately responding to Luffy’s sleepy mumbles and apologies with a soft-spoken “ good morning, Luffy-ya” . Something about that tickled his stomach.

 

Needless to say, Luffy was extremely excited about how his night was going to go.

 

Everything was going fantastic. Luffy had woken up to a deposit notification email from his bank account, informing him that gramps had sent him several hundred dollars because of his “unbelievable grades” that would be ready to use in a few days. Luffy didn’t even know how his gramps had seen his grades but assumed it had something to do with the dean of the school being his old military friend. 

 

Sanji had even made a delicious breakfast centralized around meats and had even had Luffy’s favorite soda, Diet Dr. Pepper, something that Sanji never bought, as a congratulations. Luffy almost forgot how annoying Sanji had been about Torao because food really was the way to his heart. 

 

He was in such a good mood that he skipped to his bus stop to take him to class, where he turned in his essay with a wicked grin. The teacher didn’t even make them stay for the rest of the day!

 

 Nothing could ruin that day. 

 

At least until Luffy received several Discord notifications as soon as he got home from his class. He got the notifications a lot lately, as he spent most of his day sending little messages back and forth to Torao on his phone, so it wasn’t strange, but he felt something was off because Torao usually only sent one message at a time . 

 

He felt immediately bummed as he read that Torao was called into work and wouldn’t be home until the following day around noon. 

 

My shitty supervisor wants me to observe some surgery. 

I’ve done this surgery several times before. 

It’s super frustrating. He doesn’t believe in me. 

I was really looking forward to playing with you but it will have to wait until tomorrow. 

I’m sorry, Luffy.

 

Luffy was fine with that. He could wait. He would wait as long as he needed to, as long as he got to spend time with Torao.

 

So he told him that.

 

Dont worry Torao!!!!!!!!!! I’ll play with you all day tomorrow and you can complain all you want to me about your stupid supervisor and if you want I can kick his ass too!!!!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

 

Torao must have gotten busy because he did not respond. It happened often and it was probably just a coincidence that it only happened after Luffy sent hearts. 

 

But Torao didn’t tell him not to.

 

Luffy liked sending Torao hearts.

 

He felt slightly bummed about not being able to play with Torao that night. But that was okay. Luffy had a ton of things he could do. He was happy about the fact that he learned a little more about Torao. He did surgeries. That meant that he probably cut people’s arms off or even gutted them. 

 

That was so cool. Torao was so cool! Luffy wanted more information, which bummed him out again because Torao had to work and he couldn’t ask him yet . 

 

Luffy pushed away his disappointment and decided he would throw himself into several different activities to distract himself. He tossed his phone onto his bed and left his room.

 

He hung out with Chopper and Usopp, ate a bunch of cheesy pasta that Sanji made, as he was practicing with a new machine he got, and he even let Nami trim his hair. Before he knew it, the day had flown by and he was snuggled up in bed and briefly thought about how Torao was doing. 

 

He retrieved his phone to send a quick message through Discord, trying not to feel bummed out by the fact that he hadn’t received a single message all day from Torao. 

 

Hope you're having a nice day Torao. ❤️ I can’t wait to play with you tomorrow. Let’s play all day!!! ❤️❤️❤️

 

 He then promptly fell asleep. 

 

He woke up earlier than usual the next morning and stayed in bed lazily, definitely not staring at his phone the entire time. Definitely not rereading his conversations with Torao. He was so excited to hang out with him! He couldn’t wait to receive a message-

 

Luffy read the message that arrived at 7:52 that Friday morning and felt his stomach dropping with disappointment. The message was not what he expected nor wanted.

 

Power out. What a great end to my fucking shift. 

 

Luffy responded slowly, trying not to feel so bummed out. 

 

Awwww really?????? 💔💔💔 I’m sorry Torao but don’t worry when it comes back we can play!!!

 

Torao then made a strange suggestion after about an hour of silence that had Luffy’s stomach extremely fluttery.

 

There’s a coffee shop across the street from the Baratie that I’m going to take my computer to so we can play together. 

Feel free to stop by if you want me to show you how to set up those auras I told you about.

If you want.

 

Torao wanted to meet Luffy. 

 

In person. 

 

Luffy widened his eyes and nearly jumped with excitement. Of course he was excited. His friend was so cool! Imagine hanging out with him in person! 

 

But he couldn’t tell Zoro or Sanji. They would be annoying. 

 

All they did was be annoying about Torao. Every night they rolled their eyes at Luffy and said dumb things to him. They (mostly Sanji) called Torao a creep, a weirdo, and a kidnapper. Torao was always on the computer so how could he possibly be a kidnapper? He didn’t even have time to kidnap anyone. Plus, he messaged Luffy nearly every hour of the day. Luffy would know if Torao was a creeper. He knew everything about him pretty much! 

 

With those thoughts, he quickly got ready to meet Torao as silently as possible, taking the fastest shower of his life before dressing in a comfortable bright red pullover sweater and a pair of jean shorts that had begun to fray at the bottoms. He opted for a pair of checkered slip-on Vans, which weren’t his favorite because he preferred sandals, but his friends always gave him shit when it was raining and he really didn’t want to catch a cold, even though he forwent socks. The forecast for the weather lately had been rain, rain, and more rain, stuff Luffy didn’t really care about but Chopper told him about anyways. He decided to leave his straw hat behind so that the rain did not damage it.

 

He packed his laptop, charger, and mouse into his bag, along with his wallet and his “emergency food funds” from gramps before checking his phone one last time. He grinned at the message before he took off running toward the bus stop. 

 

Okay, I will see you there.

I’m bringing the headset I told you about before. 

 

The bus ride downtown to the Baratie was a ride that Luffy was very familiar with, as he often got free meals from Zeff and Sanji if he made the journey to the restaurant. It took only twenty-five minutes and was a fairly nice ride. Luffy messaged Torao back that he was on his way before vibrating with excitement in the hard plastic seat. He tried to imagine what Torao looked like and grinned to himself. He was probably tall with red hair. Maybe he was like Shanks! His voice was deep so he was definitely tall. Maybe taller than Luffy. 

 

Luffy ignored the people nearby shooting him annoyed looks. 

 

Luffy didn’t really care what Torao looked like, though. He just wanted to meet the guy who had helped him so much over the past nine weeks. Luffy couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with excitement as the bus drove down the bumpy street. He was so excited to meet his friend. 

 

The bus stopped across the street from the Baratie and Luffy resisted running inside for a snack and instead focused his attention on the boring-looking coffee shop that he was standing in front of. The sky was a deep gray and a few drops of rain landed on Luffy’s head.

 

The coffee shop was a place that Luffy hadn’t ever been to, though he had seen it in passing. He didn’t really like coffee because it was so bitter and frowned as soon as he stepped inside of Saboady Perk . The smell of the beans was so overpowering it made him crinkle his nose but it was mixed with the scent of freshly baked pasties, which had Luffy’s mouth watering. He gazed around the low-lit coffee shop, not noticing anyone who looked like a Torao to him. He made his way to the corner of the shop and set his bag down into one of the rickety-looking wicker chairs, dusting a few drops of water off of it. He must have gotten to the shop before Torao did. 

 

Luffy’s stomach grumbled and he immediately fished out his wallet. In his excitement to get to the coffee shop, he had skipped breakfast. 

 

He went up to the counter to order something, peering at the strangely named drinks. It was kind of hard to read the menu because it was handwritten in a very annoying way and Luffy found himself feeling too nervous to really process what he was reading. 

 

“Let me know when you’re ready.” The blond barista said in a bored tone before another, darker-haired barista stepped around him to yell for a customer. 

 

“Order for Lauren!”

 

Luffy hummed to himself and then ordered a cherry lemonade and a slice of coconut strawberry cake. He paid a ridiculous amount of money with his emergency fund, which slightly hurt his chest until he remembered that gramps had sent him even more money, and moved back to his table, looking around the coffee shop once more with a frown. Not a single man was even in the coffee shop. It was full of weird-looking ladies all typing away on fancy laptops. Luffy then reminded himself about how people could be whatever they wanted and that Nami would punch him if she knew what he was thinking.

 

Luffy sat at the wobbly table and waited for his items, tapping his foot impatiently as he rocked the table back and forth. Why was it so wobbly? Shouldn’t it be even? What was the problem? He found himself watching the legs of the table as he rocked it around.

 

His order was finally ready with a quick announcement of “order for Luffy!” which he retrieved before sitting back down. He pushed the sleeves of his sweater up and crossed one leg over his knee.

 

He took a large bite of the pink cake, frowning at the fact that it was not sweet enough and was kind of sticky in his mouth. The green plate that it was on clashed heavily with the color of the cake. Luffy found himself tapping the edge of the plate, noticing that it was also somehow uneven. Now he had two things making noise and teeter-tottering on top of his stomach flipping and turning. Luffy swallowed and looked around again, realizing that he was really nervous. 

 

But why should he be nervous? It was Torao. He knew Torao. He just needed to wait for a grumpy-looking man to appear. Did Torao even look grumpy? Luffy rocked the table again.

 

Torao probably looked super grumpy. Tall and grumpy. And he probably wore surgery clothes. 

 

Luffy was startled by a tall woman suddenly standing in front of his wobbly table. He stopped rocking it and gazed up at her with wide eyes, wondering if he did something wrong as she was already scowling deeply at him. Was she annoyed because of how he kept rocking the table around? Was she going to yell at him?

 

The woman was wearing a white, form-fitted shirt with a shiny, deep blue leather jacket on top. She had aviator sunglasses on inside for some reason, and a white baseball cap with strange spots on it. Her hair was wavy and short and dark, curling around a pale face. Luffy widened his eyes as he noticed several tattoos coming out of the top of her shirt, where the fabric didn’t completely cover her breasts. The black lines curled over her chest and up her collarbones. The bottom of her shirt was revealing a small strip of light skin that had Luffy’s eyes widening in embarrassment. He was, of course, used to scantily dressed women because of his friends, but this was a stranger. A grumpy-looking stranger…

 

“H-hi.” Luffy stammered nervously, glancing back up at her scowling face. “Um, did I bother you with the table?…”

 

The woman smirked, causing the lights around them to reflect off of a silver ring that was pierced right through her septum. “Oh, that’s your first impression of me, huh? Do I look mean or something?”

 

The world seemed to stop spinning. Luffy’s jaw dropped and he slowly moved his foot back to the floor. There was no way.  

 

“… Torao?” He asked in disbelief. The woman set a coffee cup on the table harshly before removing her sunglasses, leveling Luffy with two narrowed, golden eyes. 

 

“Or something.” She muttered, voice not matching her face. “I don’t know why you call me that, but I’ll take it. You want to sit here? I have a bigger table over there.” 

 

Luffy blinked. He was… frankly, he was stumped. 

 

He stared up at her and examined every inch of her face. She stared back at him patiently, slowly lifting her coffee cup up. Luffy blinked again. Torao gestured again across the coffee shop, an amused smirk on her lips. 

 

“Let’s go.” She said firmly.

 

Luffy wordlessly gathered up his items before following the slightly taller Torao across the cafe to a table that could easily fit both of their computers on it. Torao slid into the wooden booth and then patted the spot next to her. She was still smirking at Luffy, who was standing awkwardly as he tried to process what was happening. 

 

Torao was a lady . 

 

Luffy stood for probably two entire minutes just staring at her. She was patient as she watched him. Luffy’s mind was running through every interaction and every message they had ever sent. 

 

Two more full minutes passed and she was still smirking at him. She gestured to the spot next to her again in the booth. “Well, don’t be shy, get over here and I’ll show you some things on the computer.”

 

Luffy gulped. What else was he supposed to do besides listen to her? She was so intimidating. 

 

He slowly sat next to her, rigid. She chuckled before taking a sip of her coffee, the name “LAUREN” scrolled across the cup tauntingly. 

 

“Lauren.” Luffy echoed. Torao hummed, typing something on her laptop. 

 

“I guess. You can call me Law.”

 

“…Torao?”

 

Torao rolled her eyes, offering him another smirk. “Yes. Your cute little nickname is fine, too.”

 

Luffy gulped and looked at Torao’s screen. It was too much for him to process.

 

Torao was a lady.

 

Luffy unpacked his own laptop to distract himself and set it on the table as he tried to process his emotions. Torao’s chuckle echoed in his ear tauntingly as he powered it on. He tried hard to not make things awkward, but he really didn’t know how to deal with women. He wished Robin were there.

 

“You usually talk so much when we play together. Are you that uncomfortable around me?” Torao’s tattooed hands curled around the coffee cup she was holding in front of her keyboard. Luffy read “DEATH” on her fingers and wondered what kind of person Torao was. He- no, she was so kind to him online. Was she a bad person? 

 

“I guess I could have corrected you every time you referred to me as a ‘he’.” She said matter-of-factly. “I thought it was entertaining, though, at the beginning. And if I corrected it weeks later, well... I must really sound like a man over the computer, huh.”

 

That was the thing. She didn’t sound like a man over the computer, the more Luffy thought about it. His mind swirled with memories of each and every conversation. Her soft voice. The smooth words. That high laugh. The flirting. There had been so much flirting. 

 

Luffy felt like an idiot. 

 

“I’m just surprised.” Luffy admitted quietly. He hesitantly looked up to meet Torao’s eyes, flushing slightly in embarrassment when he realized she had already been staring at him. “I really didn’t expect you to be a girl… not that it matters! You’re still my friend! I just expected… well, I expected you to have red hair!”

 

Torao grinned with obvious amusement, showering off perfectly straight and white teeth. “Red hair, huh? Sorry to disappoint. My hair is simply black.” Torao’s smile then turned teasing. “I’ll admit, I didn’t expect you to be so…”

 

Luffy glared at her. He knew what she was going to say. “Don’t say it!”

 

Torao grinned again and leaned slightly toward him. “ Cute.”

 

Luffy’s cheeks immediately heated. Great. Torao was just as embarrassing in person as she was on the computer! Somehow it was even more embarrassing coming from a girl!

 

Luffy found his eyes drawn to her hands and, by similarity, her chest where the black lines were poking out of her shirt. He hadn’t seen tattoos besides Nami’s arm tattoo, which was blue. These ones were sharp and very symmetrical. It was so interesting. 

 

Torao raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow but before she could ask, Luffy spoke. 

 

“You have a lot of tattoos.” He said, boldly poking his finger against the apex of her breasts, where he noticed the pattern was mostly clustered. Torao’s eyes widened in disbelief. Luffy met her eyes with pure curiosity. She gazed at him for a few seconds before reaching up to remove his hand from her skin. Her fingers were slightly cold.

 

“Uh, yeah. I do.” She muttered. “That’s funny. I thought you were staring at something else.”

 

Luffy frowned and placed his hands on his lap. “What else would I stare at? I mean, your jacket is kinda cool...” The blue was such a deep color that Luffy really enjoyed looking at it.

 

Both of Torao’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, uh, maybe my breasts?”

 

Luffy frowned. “Why would I stare at those ? I don’t care about that stuff. That’s boring.” He grabbed his cup and noisily sipped his lemonade before he turned his attention to his computer. “So, show me those auro things.”

 

Torao seemed to be at a loss for words before she nodded, corrected his word with a muttered “aura”, and began typing away on her keyboard.

 

Torao showed Luffy several new things over the course of three hours. They ordered multiple beverages and pastries, which Luffy ate all by himself, before Torao expressed her desire for real food. Luffy was glad that she paid for each thing they ordered because gramps would get so mad if Luffy spent all his money in one place. It had happened several times before.  

 

“Fucking sucks that my power is out.” Torao muttered as she put her laptop away. “I hate sleeping in the dark.”

 

Luffy frowned at that and suddenly had an idea. “Well, do you want to come to my place?” He suggested. “We can play games all night and even order some food!”

 

The idea was a fantastic one. Probably one of the best ideas Luffy had ever come up with. Luffy’s mouth watered as he thought about all the food they could eat. 

 

Torao hesitated but finally relented after twenty more minutes of Luffy bothering her. 

 

###

Chapter 6: 6

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Luffy was struggling to come to terms with the fact that Torao was a girl.

 

He got lost in his mind as he followed her down the busy street to her fancy black electric car. Luffy hesitated to get into the strange-looking car, which looked so shiny and new compared to Sanji's car, which Torao found hilarious. She smirked at him from the open trunk as she placed her bag delicately into it. 

 

“What, too good for my Mach-E?” She teased, also setting her hat into the trunk. Luffy grumbled and got into the passenger seat of the car, making sure to slam the door behind him.

 

He kept peeking at Torao during the drive. Her fingers were curled over the steering wheel tightly, almost like she was clenching her hands. Luffy could hear the sound of the squeaking leather because she didn’t put any music on. Who didn’t drive with music? Torao was weird. 

 

It was familiar that he had known that already. 

 

However, something told him not to touch the stereo.

 

Luffy gave hard-to-understand directions to his apartment, noticing how frequently Torao grinded her teeth because of it. She seemed like an angry person to him. Luffy was baffled by how different she was in real life compared to on the computer, where she was sassy sometimes, but never angry. Luffy felt bummed out by that revelation. 

 

They parked on the street in front of Luffy’s apartment building. Luffy, though his stomach was heavy with his indecision about this new Torao, excitedly led the way up the stairs, unlocking his door with his keys.  

 

“Chopper is probably still here but everyone else is gone.” He explained as he pushed the front door open for Torao. “Zoro had a kendo tournament out of town and Sanji always works late. Chopper always stays in his room studying, even though classes are over until the fall. He’s trying to be a doctor and he’s a super big nerd. Usopp is never here because he’s always with his girlfriend.”

 

“Oh, that’s really interesting.” Torao murmured, walking past Luffy into the apartment closely with a small smirk on her face. He noticed that she smelled like the coffee shop had, some sort of mixture of coffee and something sweet. He shut the door behind her and locked it. 

 

Luffy slapped his hand over the light switches to turn the lights on as she continued talking. She was glancing around the apartment with cool interest, keeping close behind him. “That’s a lot of dedication. Is he close to getting into a doctorate program?”

 

Luffy stepped away from her, giving her an apprehensive look because of how close she was standing to him. “Huh? I dunno. I can ask him.”

 

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

 

“Hey, Chopper!”

 

Torao winced and set down her bag on the red sofa. There was a loud slam before Chopper stepped out of his room in surprise. 

 

The small man looked younger than he was and his big, round eyes always seemed curious. He had soft brown hair that fell in small curls across his forehead and was really small, though he was the same age as Luffy. He hesitated in his doorway before fully stepping into the hallway.

 

“Oh, Luffy! You scared me! Welcome back!” The man stammered before blinking nervously at Torao. “Uh, and hello, Luffy’s friend.”

 

“This is Torao.” Luffy introduced. A flicker of recognition spanned over Chopper’s face briefly. Torao rolled her eyes before correcting Luffy. 

 

“You can call me Law.” She told Chopper, putting her hands on her hips. “Nice to meet you. Luffy-ya says you’re going to be a doctor?”

 

“Oh! I’m Tony. Nice to meet you. Yes, I just applied for about fifteen schools.” Chopper sighed, running his fingers through his hair before giving Torao a frantic look. “I’m so stressed out!”

 

Torao ran her fingers through her own hair. Luffy found his eyes lingering on her. Her hair looked so soft and the way her mouth moved seemed so funny. 

 

“You are finished with your undergrad, then?” She asked Chopper, pointedly ignoring Luffy’s gaze.

 

Luffy blinked as Torao and Chopper began to talk about nerd stuff. He had a sinking feeling that Torao was a nerd. 

 

“I was about to apply to another school.” Chopper finally said. “But I wasn’t sure… I mean my mom said that it’s really hard to get into UGLS…”

 

Torao suddenly grinned. “That’s my alma mater. You want to go there?”

 

Chopper’s eyes were suddenly wide. “What?! You went there?! You must be super smart!”

 

Torao waved her hand dismissively, nose wrinkling slightly. “Or something. It was a few years ago. I graduated over five years ago.” 

 

“How old are you?” Luffy blurted. Chopper made an offended noise and waved his arms around. 

 

“You can’t ask a woman that, Luffy!” He yelled. “It’s disrespectful!” 

 

“I don’t go for that sexist bullshit.” Torao said flatly, causing Chopper to flinch. Her eyes briefly flitted to Luffy. “I’m twenty-six.”

 

Luffy hummed and chewed his lip. So Torao was a real adult who had graduated from university. She just kept getting worse by the minute.

 

“I would love to pick your brain sometime.” Chopper was saying. “I want to specialize in pediatrics eventually, but just getting into any medical school… oh, to get into UGLS… my mom went there!”

 

“What even is that?” Luffy asked, getting annoyed that Chopper was trying to steal his friend. Chopper gave Luffy a hard look. 

 

“University of Grand Line: Saboady.” He said flatly. “Only the school I talk about all the time.”

 

“Oh yeah. That’s boring, Chopper! Hey, play this game with us!”

 

“I told you guys, I don’t have time for games. I have to study and volunteer! Speaking of which, I’m gonna go organize my notes again and find a place to volunteer at! Order some food since you ate all of our food, Luffy! I’m hungry!”

 

Chopper disappeared back to his room with a slam of the door. 

 

Luffy looked over to Torao to ask what she wanted to eat but instead felt the words die in his throat as she removed her leather jacket. 

 

Her arms and shoulders were covered with abstract, tribal-type tattoos that were so cool. He couldn’t keep his eyes away from the swirls of black ink. Luffy could see more of her chest now and noticed how the tattoo curved over her breasts in a strange way. She smirked at Luffy and ran her fingers through her hair again.

 

She was definitely a woman. Torao was a woman . 

 

“What, cat got your tongue?” Torao teased and Luffy glared and met her eyes as he found his words again. 

 

“No, I’m just really surprised that you’re a woman. And you’re old.” 

 

Torao widened her eyes in disbelief. “Excuse me? Old? What the fuck?”

 

Luffy crossed his arms, feeling bummed again. “Man, I thought you were a super cool guy the whole time but you’re such a nerd, just like Chopper!”

 

“Hey, I am a super cool guy.” Torao defended, glaring slightly. “I thought you liked hanging out with me.” 

 

“I don’t know how to hang out with a girl!” Luffy had flashbacks of that distant conversation he had with Vivi and internally shuddered. Torao rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

 

“Stop thinking of me like that, then. Let’s just play the game like before and get some food, how does that sound? How about we drink some beer?”

 

“I’m twenty! I can’t drink!”

 

Torao widened her eyes. “Oh shit, really? You’re that young ? Well, I mean, I won’t tell anyone.”

 

Luffy huffed, arms crossed over his chest. 

 

He was not having it. Torao was a girl. His Torao, his friend, his male friend who had played games with him for weeks, was a fucking girl. Luffy didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know how to think. Had he said anything that girls shouldn’t hear? Had he really messed up?

 

Looking at her, he didn’t know. She seemed the same underneath all of the girl things. The same voice, the same sassy and borderline snooty personality… Torao had always been very strange to talk with. And he had never asked. 

 

Really, how could he have not seen it?

 

He wouldn’t risk losing his friend just because he had assumed that she was… that Torao was…

 

“Okay.” Luffy finally said with a sigh. Torao’s lips tightened. Luffy went on, “I’ll give it a chance. This is just too weird… I’ve never hung out with a girl alone before. Zoro or Sanji are always there. Nami always talks about her nails and her hair and it’s so annoying. And Vivi always blabs about feelings. Robin just reads books. I wanna talk about cool stuff, play my game, and have fun!”

 

Torao grinned widely, which was slightly scary if Luffy was honest, and turned to rifle through her bag on the sofa. “Sounds good to me. I hate hanging out with girls because they only wanna talk about dates and I hate hanging out with guys because they always want to talk about how they don’t get any. You’re a really cool guy, Luffy-ya, and I bet we will never get bored together. Here, I forgot that I brought you that headset.”

 

Luffy nodded hesitantly and accepted the box. It looked suspiciously unopened but Luffy just assumed that Torao was a weirdo who had too many things. 

 

They set up their computers at the kitchen island, as it was more friendly to play side-by-side. Luffy browsed a food delivery service website while Torao set up the headset for Luffy. 

 

“Tacos sound good.” Luffy muttered. “But what kind?…”

 

“Just order a bunch.” Torao suggested before plugging a small dongle into Luffy’s USB port. “Do you like chicken or beef?”

 

“I like meat.” Luffy added several different kinds of tacos to his cart. Chicken, beef, pulled pork, lengua…

 

“Is that why you assumed I was a guy?”

 

Luffy frowned deeply and turned his head to face Torao with wide eyes. What did meat have to do with that? 

 

His owlish look must have been an indication that he didn’t understand because suddenly Torao was smiling teasingly at him. Luffy braced himself for an embarrassing comment but she seemed to take pity on him and instead glanced at his screen. Luffy had a sinking feeling that he missed some sort of joke or flirt, both things that he seemed to miss a lot when it came to Torao. He clicked slightly harder and chewed his lip anxiously as he tried to figure out what it was.

 

Luffy moved his body away quickly as Torao suddenly crowded his space, her bony elbow pressing against him. She pursed her lips and gently nudged his hand away from the mouse with a few swats of her hand. Luffy glared at the side of her face.

 

“You’re kind of bossy.” He remarked. “I’m usually the boss of things.”

 

Torao turned to smirk at him, a glint in her golden eyes. “Oh yeah? You wanna fight me for that title? You know, I boss people around at work all day. It’s only natural that I’d do it in other places, too.”

 

Luffy got closer, his forehead bumping against Torao’s roughly. “I’m a really good fighter, Torao. You’ll lose ‘cause you’re so skinny.”

 

Torao snickered and turned back to the computer, though Luffy did not miss that her cheeks had gone all pink. “You’re funny. And cute. We will see.”

 

That left Luffy’s own cheeks hot and his stomach anxious, both things Luffy was not familiar with. That comment gave him the suspicion that she was definitely doing the flirting thing again but he kept it to himself. 

 

Torao ended up paying for all of the food they ordered with a shiny, fancy-looking credit card, which Luffy was again secretly grateful for. She must have been rich or something to have such a strange credit card. 

 

Torao excused herself to the restroom after a few vague directions from Luffy and he cracked his knuckles, prepared for a fun afternoon of leveling with her-

 

-until the front door opened and Zoro and Sanji walked inside. Luffy looked at them like a deer caught in headlights and they both eyed him suspiciously. 

 

Why were they home so early?!

 

“Luffy, who’s computer is that?” Zoro asked immediately, gesturing to the kitchen island. Sanji was staring at the leather jacket draped carelessly over the back of the sofa with a doubtful expression on his face. He lifted it up and examined it before turning to hang it up on the coat rack.

 

“Luffy.” He said slowly, cigarette bobbing between his lips. “Don’t tell me you invited that stranger over!”

 

“You don’t even know Torao.” Luffy defended in a very guilty way. 

 

“Okay, I’m sorry, but we should at least know him before he finds out where we live! We have to discuss these things!” Sanji then scoffed. “Even though he is probably just some creepy guy, a super nerd who plays games all day...”

 

Luffy opened his mouth to correct him but he and Zoro were suddenly focusing on the hallway as the sound of a closing door reached them. 

 

Torao then walked back into the kitchen, eyes locking onto all three of them. Sanji and Zoro stared at her with wide eyes. Torao gave a small nod to them before returning to her seat next to Luffy. Her leg pressed against his and he quickly shifted away.

 

“I’m Law.” Torao introduced, clicking a few things on her laptop. “Nice to meet you. You guys must be Zoro-ya and Sanji-ya.” She looked back over to Luffy’s gaping friends and raised an eyebrow. 

 

“Luffy, we need to talk.” Sanji said immediately, nearly chopping the end of his cigarette off as he clenched his teeth. “Come here.”

 

Luffy sighed in irritation and looked at Torao. “I’ll be right back. Can you see if I set up that aura correctly that we were working on? There’s a weird question mark in the middle of my screen when I log in.”

 

“Sure thing, Luffy-ya.” Torao immediately slid into Luffy’s seat as he stood up and stalked over to Sanji. They stepped out into the hallway outside the apartment while Zoro stayed inside to “keep watch.”

 

“Luffy, that is a woman.” Sanji said immediately, lighting his cigarette before jabbing a trembling finger to their door. “An older, tattooed, sexy woman. Who is she?!”

 

“That’s Torao.” Luffy said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. “I didn’t know she was a girl. We are trying to ignore that part.”

 

Sanji blinked. “Why would you ignore that?! She’s hot!”

 

“Girls are lame!” Luffy yelled in irritation. What didn’t Sanji get about that? All he wanted to do was play games. He didn’t care about girls or anything like that!

 

“She’s so cute.” Sanji sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Law. What a beautiful maiden.”

 

“Stop doing that.” Luffy said, tightening his arms. “Just treat her like a normal guy. She’s kind of a nerd like Chopper, though. I don’t know about that.”

 

The taco delivery guy chose to appear at that moment and Luffy didn’t care what Sanji had to say next and went back into the apartment, leaving his friend to receive the delivery and worry about the tip. Torao slid back to her seat and Luffy immediately sat down, grinning at his screen. The question mark was gone! 

 

The tacos were quite delicious, even though Sanji grumbled the entire time about how he could have cooked. Luffy lost count of how many he ate because he was having so much fun playing with Torao. Torao had separated three tacos into a different container, stating that they were for Tony before claiming two of her own tacos which sat, untouched, for a while.

 

It was so different playing next to each other. It was easier to get help and he began to feel comfortable and back to normal. Torao being a girl wasn’t so bad. She even gave Luffy the rest of her tacos, though he hadn’t seen her eat more than one bite from each. Maybe she hadn’t liked them?

 

“Ah, shit.” Torao muttered. “I dropped salsa all over my shirt.”

 

Luffy snickered and watched as she shoved napkins down the top of her shirt. “You’re clumsy, Torao. I thought you were a super smart nerd.”

 

“Being smart has nothing to do with being clumsy.” Torao muttered before realizing what Luffy said. She gave him a sharp look. “I’m not clumsy! I was too focused on keeping us alive because you keep pulling seven mobs at once! My taco got soggy and fell apart!”

 

“You sure are dumb sometimes.” Luffy shoved the messy taco into his mouth whole and chewed while watching her try to wipe the red splotches from the fabric of her shirt. He spoke with food in his mouth. “Why did you wear a white shirt, anyway? It was raining earlier.”

 

“My power was out. I just grabbed the first thing I could find. Can you not talk with your mouth full? Are you a fucking animal?”

 

Luffy chewed open-mouthed specifically to bother her, earning a withering look. He swallowed and grinned at her. Torao dropped the soiled napkins onto the counter with an irritated sigh.

 

“Can I borrow a shirt?” She asked, meeting his eyes. 

 

Luffy nodded and jumped down from his chair, wiping his hands on his shorts. Torao rose to her feet, standing around an inch taller than Luffy which was a little annoying. She scowled at him and offered him a clean napkin. 

 

“You have shit all over your face. And don’t wipe your hands on your clothes. Are you an idiot, too?”

 

“Yeah, well at least I meant to get salsa on my clothes.” Luffy grumbled, accepting the napkin roughly and messily cleaning his greasy face and fingers.

 

He led Torao down the hall much to the dismay of Zoro and Sanji, who were gaping at the entire exchange from the living room. 

 

Luffy turned on his light and immediately went to his closet. He was glad that his room was mostly clean and that he only had to step over school books and clothes.

 

He pulled down one of his two clean t-shirts and turned to Torao in time to see her pulling her stained shirt off, leaving herself in some weird bra made of lace. He frowned at her before noticing more salsa down the front of her jeans. 

 

“You’ll need to borrow some pants, too.” He said, walking past the half-naked woman to his dresser. “Here, I have some sweatpants. I can’t believe how messy you are when you eat!”

 

“It was an accident, I was distracted.” Luffy could tell that her argument was weak. Luffy approached her, sweatpants offered silently.

 

“Thanks for all of this.” Torao murmured as she removed her too-tight jeans, revealing a matching pair of underwear. Luffy thought that was such a girl thing to do. “For meeting with me and also for inviting me over. I really appreciate the company.”

 

“There you go, being a sentimental woman.” Luffy snickered. Torao scowled at him. 

 

“Fuck off.”

 

Luffy smiled excitedly as she pulled on the sweatpants that he lent her. He noticed that her legs and stomach were also covered with the abstract tattoos and found himself curious about them. He had a good view of the tattoo that spanned over her entire chest, though her breasts really contorted it. The tattoo on her stomach seemed to be completely separate from it, too. Luffy also noticed a lot of shining diamonds and wondered if they were piercings. Torao pulled the shirt on, interrupting Luffy’s examination. He noticed her cheeks were slightly red and wondered if it was the lighting of his room. 

 

“Is that comfortable?” Luffy asked, meeting her eyes. Torao nodded and looked down at herself. 

 

“Yeah, thanks Luffy-ya. It’s a horrible color for a shirt but I’m honestly not surprised.” She pulled at the collar of the blue and orange striped shirt. Luffy dragged his laundry basket over to her. 

 

“Here. You can put your clothes in my basket and I’ll wash them. You’re staying the night, right? Cause you don’t like to be alone in the dark?”

 

Luffy was watching her as his stomach flipped with excitement. Would she stay the night? It would be so fun! Luffy rarely had sleepovers anymore and usually settled for sleeping with Zoro in the living room most nights when he wasn’t being so annoying . Luffy really liked to sleep surrounded by others. 

 

He might be fine to sleep with Torao in the privacy of his room, so that his nosy friends couldn’t annoy them. 

 

Torao scratched the back of her head. “I don’t want to impose… and you’ve already done enough-”

 

“You can sleep here with me.” Luffy decided before belly flopping into his bed to demonstrate its bounciness. “My bed is really big and comfy! We can have a sleepover!”

 

Torao hesitated before sighing. “If you’re sure. Clean this fucking mess up, though.”

 

They returned to the kitchen a few minutes later after Luffy quickly stacked his books on his desk and threw the clothes into his laundry basket. He grumbled to himself how bossy Torao was and she pretended not to hear him as she snooped his bookshelf.

 

Zoro was watching a movie in the living room and Sanji was nowhere to be seen, though the food mess was gone. Luffy yawned and sat in front of his computer again. 

 

“Let’s do something we should have been working on the entire time.” Torao said with a soft sigh. “Reputations and professions with a bit of weapon skill point leveling.”

 

Luffy just nodded excitedly like he always did as he jumped his warrior across a field behind Torao, killing everything he encountered, even the small snakes.

 

They played for around another hour before Torao yawned. 

 

“We can call it here.” Luffy said immediately, smiling happily at his screen. Level 47. Not too shabby. He closed his laptop and Torao frowned. 

 

“You need to shut that down.” She told him. “You can’t just leave it on.”

 

“I always do it.” Luffy opened his laptop with a frown. “It’s faster to play the next day!”

 

“Just shut it down. The computer needs to be shut down.”

 

“So you’re being bossy again ?” Luffy snickered as he shut down his laptop. He could hear her rolling her eyes. 

 

“We are making nice progress.” Torao said after she shut down her laptop, running her fingers through her hair. “I might need to tell Shachi to adjust the amount of experience needed per level, though. It seems to take forever, even with my addon maximizing our time spent.”

 

“Yeah, tell him to put more cool hats, too.” Luffy said. “I want to have a straw hat that looks just like mine!”

 

Torao chuckled. Zoro paused the TV to frown at them over the back of the sofa. 

 

“What are you guys talking about?” He asked. Luffy grinned, too excited to get mad at Zoro for being nosy. He had probably been listening to them the entire night. 

 

“Torao’s friends made this game.” He said. “Isn’t that neat?”

 

“What? There’s no way.” Zoro stood up and stretched before walking over to them. He ruffled Luffy’s hair as he usually did. 

 

“Yeah. My two best friends, Shachi and Penguin, developed this game.” Torao said, giving Zoro an apprehensive look, as if he would ruffle her hair, too. “Luffy-ya’s correct.”

 

“Luffy always meets the strangest people.” Zoro muttered. He grabbed a beer from the fridge before walking back to the sofa and returning to his show. Torao took her laptop to her bag that was still on the corner of the red sofa and slid it inside. She zipped it closed before moving back toward the kitchen.

 

“We are going to bed, night Zoro!” Luffy said excitedly before wrapping his fingers around Torao’s tiny wrist and tugging her down the hall. “C’mon, let’s watch a movie!”

 

“Wait, is she staying the night?!” Zoro shouted but Luffy ignored him and slammed his bedroom door.

 

Luffy made his bed with extra pillows and blankets before turning on his large TV that was mounted on the wall. Torao perched on the end of his bed to browse for a movie to watch while Luffy pulled off his shirt to change into a sleeping one. He kicked off his shoes and hesitated with his shorts, because he was not wearing underwear, before hastily grabbing a pair of gym shorts and excusing himself to the restroom.

 

He changed as fast as he could before returning to his room. He threw his shorts toward the laundry basket haphazardly. Torao’s eyes flickered to him. He then flopped onto his side of the bed and grinned widely at her. She returned the smile, though he noticed that her eyes darted to his bare skin as his shirt rode up. He didn’t mind, since he was looking at her tattoos a lot. Luffy patted the spot next to him with a grin, copying how she had done it at the coffee shop. Torao hesitated but slowly scooted up. 

 

They ended up watching some sort of scary movie. Luffy didn’t really like scary movies but he sat through it the best he could. It was more bloody than anything else and he didn’t spend too much of the movie behind his hands, which was a plus. He had a feeling Torao would laugh at him if he got scared. 

 

They were both sitting against the headboard and Torao had her ankles crossed. Her tattooed hands rested on her thighs. Luffy’s own legs were spread slightly and he was hyper aware of her body heat and tried to make sure they didn’t touch. It was the rules of sharing a bed with female friends and he knew it; the memories of several times that Nami had punched him in the head for hugging her while she slept was a taunting reminder. 

 

Both of their feet were bare and Luffy noticed that she had black-painted toes and dainty-looking feet, though they seemed just as long as his. He was surprised that she didn’t have any tattoos on them. 

 

He knew that Torao barely slept and hoped that he would be able to stay up all night with her to keep her company.

 

He found himself dozing off and flinched slightly when Torao’s head was suddenly on his shoulder. He started to shove her off before he realized that she was asleep. 

 

What a weirdo. 

 

Luffy turned off the TV and gently pushed Torao down onto her back. He pulled the blanket up over her before returning to his own side with his own blanket. He stared at Torao’s peaceful face, taking notice of the large dark circles under her eyes, along with a strange patch of slightly lighter skin that stretched across her neck. It was easier to look at her now that she couldn’t glare at him. And she had fallen asleep so quickly. She really must not sleep so well.

 

Luffy left on the small lamp on his bedside table so that Torao wouldn’t be scared in the dark, in case she woke up, before closing his own eyes and sighing softly. He was drifting off to sleep when his bedmate began to mumble in her sleep. Luffy grinned, ready to use that as blackmail tomorrow, before he heard some heartbreaking things. 

 

“No… please don’t kill him… he’s my only family left…” Torao whimpered, shifting slightly. “ Please.”

 

Luffy quietly observed her creased eyebrows and parted lips. He had never heard her sound like that before. He waited for a few moments and hoped that it would pass, but she continued to grow more distressed. She huffed and let out another whimper and it caused Luffy’s heart to swell uncomfortably in his chest.

 

Luffy didn’t know why he did it but he scooted closer and gently ran his fingers through her hair. Her locks were as soft and easy to touch as they looked and he tried to be as soothing and gentle as possible. Torao’s face eventually smoothed out and she seemed to relax into the touch. Luffy massaged her scalp until he got a small cramp in his hand. He sighed and moved even closer, loosely tossing an arm over her small body and tugging her against his chest. 

 

Girls were so complicated. 

 

###

Chapter 7: 7

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The next morning, Luffy woke up from his amazing dream of eating two giant turkey legs with Torao’s face buried in his neck. He blinked at the ceiling for a few moments before trying to sit up. 

 

That was when he realized that Torao was all over him. 

 

One skinny leg was over his hips and one bony arm was under his shirt, over his bare waist. Her tiny breaths felt hot against his neck and he tried to move her away but she was really holding on. Luffy’s heart was nearly hammering out of his chest the longer he stared at her. His stomach swirled with those bugs that he always seemed to get and he knew that getting her away from him was what he needed to do. 

 

“Torao.” He whispered, feeling his stomach growl, adding to his issue. “Torao, get off .”

 

Torao adjusted slightly, a soft sigh escaping her lips. He felt them against his neck and stiffened. Luffy pushed her leg off of him roughly, which startled her awake. She sat up slowly, blinking. Luffy’s eyes fell on her nose piercing again, curious as to why she would do that to herself. His stomach bugs slowly settled back to their normal movements as he outwardly stared at her face.

 

“Torao, did that hurt?” He asked, using one finger to poke at her piercing. The metal was thin and smooth under his fingertip. Torao blinked at him for a few moments before shrugging sleepily and pushing his hand away, though she weirdly kept hold of it for a few seconds. Luffy had to pull away. She had lines on her face and dried drool on the corner of her mouth, trailing a frosty line across one of her cheeks. 

 

“Fuck.” She murmured sleepily. “I passed out. I haven’t slept like that in… a long time.”

 

“How long?” Luffy asked. Torao shrugged, rubbing one eye. 

 

“Probably since my childhood.” She admitted. She looked around the bed. “Your bed must be really comfortable.” She seemed to frown at his shoulder, where a smearing of dried drool was. “And no, the nose piercing didn’t hurt. Not in comparison to some other ones I’ve gotten.”

 

Luffy yawned and stretched his arms up above his head. He was hungry. He sat up quickly while Torao wiped the drool off of her face.

 

“Do you have any face wash?” She asked around a yawn. She smacked her lips slightly before making a face. “Maybe a spare toothbrush?”

 

Luffy led Torao to the bathroom and gestured wildly to the shelf with all of Sanji’s products on it. He then dug around under the sink for a new toothbrush and thrust it at her chest. 

 

“You can use my toothpaste.” Luffy declared proudly, grabbing the blue tube from his designated spot on a different shelf. “It’s cotton candy flavored!”

 

Torao’s lip curled slightly. “Is that for children?”

 

“Dunno. It was on sale. I’m on a strict budget.” Luffy chuckled and waved the toothpaste at her. She glanced to the side, towards Sanji’s immaculate mint-flavored whitening toothpaste before grumbling and taking the blue tube from Luffy, a slight pink dusting her cheeks. 

 

They brushed their teeth in silence. Luffy usually brushed his teeth super fast but the way Torao was glaring at him made him keep brushing until she was finished. They washed their faces, Luffy having never done that, before they toweled their faces dry. Torao then requested dental floss , something Luffy hadn’t ever purchased nor used in his entire life. He slowly rifled through Sanji’s products, chewing his lip anxiously as Torao glared daggers into his back. What did floss even look like?

 

He found the small gray container and held it up in triumph. Torao snatched it before tearing off a string for herself. Luffy felt obligated to copy her and pulled his own string which ended up being twice as long as hers. He mirrored Torao’s movements, the feeling of the floss between his teeth foreign and slightly uncomfortable. The bloody smile he showed Torao once they finished caused her to scowl deeply at him and whack him on the head.

 

“I’ll get Sanji to make us breakfast.” Luffy said happily after he rinsed his mouth with Sanji’s gross minty mouthwash. He pulled off his drool-covered shirt and scratched the skin over his ribcage and noticed Torao’s eyes lingering on the large, ugly scar in the center of his chest. His stomach immediately twisted and he placed a hand over his heart. He knew he had to explain.

 

“I had an… accident a few years ago.” He said hesitantly. “With my brother, Ace. He…” Luffy swallowed. He could say it. He rubbed his chest anxiously as his heart ached. “He died, but it’s okay!”

 

Torao gave him a hard look. “That’s a very large scar. You must have been in the hospital for weeks.”

 

Luffy felt like he was suffocating. He never thought of the time he spent in the hospital or about how heartbreaking it had been to be denied information about Ace. How he had screamed his throat raw and clawed at his chest in discomfort, opening the wounds again and again. He dreaded the questions. He dreaded the looks. He felt that anxiety swirling around his heart, his breath picking up slightly. He stared at Torao in terror, afraid of the prying questions about-

 

But then her eyes darted down to the towel gripped in her hand. She flexed her fingers and Luffy’s eyes were drawn to the letters dusting her skin. “Death is a strange thing, isn’t it?”

 

Luffy wordlessly turned to face the sink, processing the fact that Torao hadn’t said the usual thing that people said when they found out about Ace as he screwed the cap back on his toothpaste. He found that he preferred it that way. He didn’t want pity or the sad eyes that people gave him. He especially didn’t want it from Torao and the fact that she hadn’t even blinked at his discomfort… hadn’t even gazed at him…

 

His heartbeat slowed back to normal. He felt that anxiety creep away. 

 

“You were having a nightmare last night.” Luffy suddenly said, looking at her through the mirror. Torao stiffened before running her fingers through her messy hair. She seemed to do that a lot. 

 

“Yeah…” She murmured. “I always do. It’s why I don’t sleep much. You can’t have a nightmare if you’re awake.”

 

They were quiet after that. The mood had turned bitter and heavy and Luffy did not like it. He wanted them to laugh and be happy again. He wanted…

 

He forced a grin. Torao hesitated before forcing her own smile. 

 

“You look stupid like that.” She told him. Luffy’s grin turned real. 

 

“So do you! That’s a creepy smile!”

 

Torao snorted out loud and, just like that, the mood was repaired. 

 

Torao combed her hair with Sanji’s comb in the bathroom while Luffy went to his room to retrieve a fresh shirt. He then grabbed the laundry basket, making sure to retrieve his strewn clothes from last night, and hurried down the hall to toss all of the clothes inside the washing machine. He added the good detergent (also known as Sanji’s special soap) and pressed start before hurrying back to the bathroom. 

 

Torao had her borrowed shirt pushed up and was applying lotion to her tattooed stomach. Luffy raked his eyes over the strange swirls of ink, noticing that she also had a pierced navel. Not only that, it was pierced in several places. How had he missed that? His eyes moved down to her bony hips, which also had shining diamond studs on them. 

 

“That’s a lot of piercings.” Luffy remarked as he leaned against the door jam. Torao snorted without looking at him. 

 

“I dunno how you do it, Luffy-ya, but you manage to be the weirdest man I’ve ever met.” She muttered. “It’s refreshing.”

 

“Hey, I’m not weird!” Luffy defended. “You’re the one putting Sanji’s expensive lotion all over your tummy!”

 

“My skin gets really dry.” Torao defended back. “Especially on my stomach, for some reason. It isn’t weird.”

 

Luffy crossed his arms. “Maybe it’s because you have too many tattoos.”

 

Torao smirked at him. “Too many, huh? You sound like my piece of shit uncle.”

 

Luffy noticed the flash of pain across her face. She didn’t seem to want to talk about it and Luffy decided not to say anything else. He instead took some lotion to rub on his own stomach, wondering if this was the skincare things that Sanji always raved about. It took so long to do.

 

They went to the kitchen slowly, Torao pulling her borrowed shirt in several different directions to expose different tattoos at Luffy’s request. She had them on her shoulders and forearms, her hands, her chest, her stomach… He grinned as Torao pulled her hair back into a ponytail, jabbing excitedly at her pierced ear. Torao winced and slapped his hand away, muttering about how he kept touching her. Luffy thought that she kept touching him. They leaned against the kitchen island.

 

“You probably set off all of the metal detectors.” Luffy said to her, impressed. “I do because I have shrapnel all inside my body!”

 

Torao stared at him. Luffy examined her ears, notating each and every silver ring and stud to his memory. It was so interesting. Torao was so cool! But what kind of fancy nerd job allowed her to have so many tattoos and piercings? 

 

“Hey, Torao.” He suddenly said, meeting her eyes. “What kind of job do you have?”

 

Torao pursed her lips, looking as though she wanted to press Luffy for information regarding what he had just said about the shrapnel but deciding against it. “Well, officially , I am a maxillofacial surgeon.”

 

Luffy frowned. “A what?”

 

“I take out people’s teeth. But unofficially , I am a cardiovascular surgeon.”

 

Luffy blinked. “Wait, what? You’re just a dentist?”

 

Torao ignored that and gestured to the stove. “You want me to cook or something? You’re just standing there.”

 

Luffy grinned. “Yeah, make us some breakfast!”

 

Luffy helped Torao get out all of the ingredients for their breakfast of pancakes, eggs, potatoes, and bacon, setting them on the kitchen island. Torao pulled some weird vegetables from the fridge and Luffy made a face. Why was she doing that? She didn’t need those. But she had a mean glare so Luffy decided not to put the vegetables back into the fridge. He gestured vaguely to the cabinets and she rolled her eyes and began to pull out many different bowls and spoons.

 

“I was homeschooled and graduated early,” Torao explained to him as she mixed the ingredients for weird green eggs in one of Sanji’s bowls. She set it aside and began chopping an onion. “When I was fourteen. I finished all of the curriculum and applied for university. The first one I applied for denied me due to my age, but the second one, which happened to be UGLS, accepted me.” Torao began to chop a red pepper, her hands steady and quick. She added the chopped vegetables to a pan. “I took a lot of classes at the same time, because I was a super nerd, as you would say, who wanted to be the best. I didn’t sleep much and ended up getting two bachelor’s degrees by the time I was seventeen.”

 

Luffy leaned over the corner of the kitchen island with interest as Torao began to mix the pancake ingredients.

 

“Put some chocolate chips in there.” He commanded, pointing to the cabinet above the fridge that Sanji kept all of the baking supplies in. Torao shot him a glare but retrieved the chocolate. She added a small amount of chips to the batter and Luffy let out a huff of complaint. She added a bit more.

 

Luffy watched her chop up small red potatoes into thin slices, his mouth nearly watering. He loved potatoes. 

 

Torao seasoned them with way too many different little containers that Luffy would never have the patience for before turning two burners on. Luffy leaned over the counter in awe as she placed three pans onto the stove. One of them had the vegetables and potatoes while the other two remained bare. 

 

“You’re good at this.” Luffy stated, leaning impressively closer. “I can tell it’s going to be delicious.”

 

Torao cleared her throat and continued talking, cheeks slightly pink. 

 

“I went into an accelerated dental program up north and finished my MD as well, since I was still taking classes because I decided I wanted to be a heart surgeon after my…” Torao paused and Luffy looked up at her face. He frowned as he noticed that it was twisted in pain. He was quiet as she composed herself, mixing the pancake batter a little aggressively before pouring some into one of the heated pans. “After my brother died from an undetected heart defect. The thing is, it was repairable. If the fraud excuses for doctors would have run the proper tests.”

 

Luffy bit his lip, relating with her immediately. “Was he your older brother?”

 

Torao smiled sadly as she stirred the sizzling vegetables. “No, he was younger. His name was Lawrence but I called him Lami. Don’t ask me why.”

 

“You guys had super similar names.” Luffy snickered. “ Lawrence. Lauren.” Torao smiled slightly. 

 

“Yeah, our birth parents were weird, I guess. He was my only brother, though, and after he died, well…” Torao poured two more circles of batter into the pancake pan. “That was when I started to get my piercings. Our parents had already died years before that and we had been living with our uncles. Then there was an “accident” and one of my uncle’s died. That was when I began to get tattoos.”

 

That must have been the nightmare she had been having last night. Luffy tried not to think too hard about the fact that he had definitely heard her talking about a murder.

 

“And your other uncle?”

 

 Torao flipped the pancakes before adjusting the heat on the stove. “That asshole sends me a postcard a few times a year. I’m glad that he’s staying away.”

 

They were silent, the only noise was the sizzling veggies. Luffy watched Torao’s skillful hands as she placed a lid onto the potatoes and peppers. Luffy didn’t even know where half of the things she was using came from. Sanji never let him cook. Not since he severely messed up boiling pasta.

 

Torao retrieved a large plate from above the sink and quickly flipped three perfectly golden pancakes onto it. Luffy held himself back from ripping into them. 

 

“Don’t forget the bacon.” He whispered, face feeling hot. Torao smiled softly as she unwrapped the brown paper surrounding the freshly sliced bacon. 

 

“I won't forget the meat. As if you’d let me.”

 

“Uhuh.” Luffy fisted up his hands. It was so hard to resist his urge of grabbing a pancake in each hand. He could wait. He would wait. 

 

“Anyways,” Torao cleared her throat and poured the remaining pancake batter into three more symmetrical circles in the pan. “That’s basically my life story. Your turn.”

 

Luffy hummed softly, avoiding her inquiry. “That’s a really cool story. It sucks that people have to die, but everyone lives their own life. Ace died, but he was smiling at me. I think he was happy.”

 

Torao frowned at that. 

 

“But I have Sabo, too!” Luffy added. “My other brother! But he’s always out of the country…”

 

Torao frowned deeper.

 

“So you’re a fancy dentist.” Luffy finally surmised, grinning up at the grumpy woman. “And a future heart doctor.”

 

Torao gave him an amused look before flipping the pancakes. “Yes, for lack of better terms. I pull people’s teeth three days a week, and I usually work at the hospital downtown four days a week. I’m almost finished with my fellowship and then I’ll be a ‘heart’ surgeon. I was forced to take a few days off due to… my bad attitude. That's why I’m not working until next Tuesday.”

 

That made Luffy snicker. “You’re so grumpy, Torao.”

 

That earned him an eye roll, but he expected that. Torao finished the pancakes and began cooking the bacon. 

 

Luffy hummed. “Hearts and teeth. Huh. I think I have my wisdom teeth still. I’ll show you.” He put his fingers into his mouth to show her and Torao immediately reprimanded him, smacking his hand with the hot spatula.

 

Torao finished cooking around ten minutes later, answering Luffy’s barrage of questions with grunts. She served breakfast to Luffy as Sanji appeared. The blond man was frowning deeply, rubbing his eyes. Luffy opened his mouth to comment on Torao’s lack of breakfast but Sanji interrupted him.

 

“Luffy, we agreed that you can’t use the stove while everyone is still sleeping.” He muttered before blinking at the two of them. “Oh. Good morning. Uh, did you stay the night?”

 

“Torao slept over.” Luffy said around a mouthful of pancakes and bacon. He didn’t really want to eat the weird green eggs and would just give them to Torao later. 

 

“Slept over… where ?” Sanji glanced toward the sofa, where upon further inspection, Zoro was snoring suspiciously loudly on. They hadn’t even noticed him.

 

“With me!” Luffy swallowed his mouthful of food and grinned. “Torao’s kinda clingy when she sleeps but other than that, it was fun! We watched a scary movie and I didn’t even get scared!”

 

Sanji’s brain seemed to short circuit from that comment. Torao simply smirked. Luffy began to shovel potatoes into his mouth, not really noticing the peppers.

 

“Eat the eggs, too, Luffy-ya.” Torao suddenly said, pointing to his plate. Luffy swallowed and groaned. 

 

“But the vegetables…”

 

“Just eat them. You won’t taste them.”

 

Luffy pouted and took a bite of the eggs. They just tasted like regular eggs. He then grinned and ate the rest quickly. Sanji was gaping. 

 

“You got him to eat spinach? Are you kidding me? I’m a chef and I can’t even get him to eat vegetables.”

 

Luffy chewed happily. It was quite tasty and kind of cool that the eggs were green. And he even felt full!

 

Torao shrugged her shoulders. “Just don’t give him a choice. If you mix it into the other food, I doubt he will be patient enough to pick it all out.”

 

“You really cooked him a full breakfast?”

 

Torao scowled. 

 

“You gonna eat anything?” Sanji added. Torao’s scowl evolved into a full glare.

 

Sanji shrugged and helped himself to some of the remaining breakfast. He took a bite and hummed, nodding in pleasant surprise. 

 

“You’re quite the cook, Torao.”

 

Torao scowled at the use of her nickname but didn’t say anything. Luffy’s eyes moved over her ears again, almost entranced by the sparkling metals. Torao was so cool. 

 

And he really liked that she made breakfast for him.

 

They moved to the living room a bit later to watch another movie as Sanji did the dishes. Zoro wasn’t there anymore, leaving the sofa available for them to sit on. Luffy bounced around excitedly on the cushions as Torao browsed the streaming service again. 

 

“Can you make some coffee, Luffy-ya?” Torao murmured. Luffy jumped off the couch immediately and ran to the kitchen, tugging at Sanji’s arm. He nearly dropped the plate he was scrubbing, giving Luffy an exasperated look. 

 

“Can you show me how to use the coffee maker?” He asked excitedly. “Torao wants coffee.”

 

Sanji got a weird expression on his face but turned off the water to oblige to Luffy’s request. Luffy watched with interest as Sanji spooned two scoops of coffee grounds and placed it into the filter. He filled the reservoir with water next before pressing start. Luffy stared at the dripping liquid curiously for a few minutes while Sanji finished the dishes. The coffee maker sputtered, signaling that it was finished, and he filled up one of the yellow coffee mugs. He hurried back to the sofa, offering Torao the cup. She accepted it with a soft thanks and curled her legs up underneath her. Luffy stared at her manicured toes for a moment before getting comfortable himself, his side pressed against hers. 

 

“You don’t have to sit so close.” Torao muttered, sipping her coffee. Luffy stuck his tongue out at her. 

 

“You slept all over me like a sloth! No complaining!” He moved even closer, causing the older woman to shift in displeasure. That caused him to grin. 

 

“You’re so annoying.” Torao huffed as Luffy leaned heavily against her side. But she adjusted slightly and her head fell to the side to press against his own. Luffy ignored the flip of his stomach at the gesture.

 

They spent the morning and early afternoon lounging on the couch, watching different movies. Torao had eventually settled her head in Luffy’s lap with Luffy gently running his fingers through her soft hair again, which was loose after Torao removed the hair tie to Luffy’s request. It was slightly knotted from the night of sleeping, even after she had combed it, but it was still just as soft. Torao was dozing off, lips parted slightly and drool leaking out. The current movie was really boring.  

 

The front door suddenly opened and Luffy turned his head to watch as Nami and Robin entered the apartment with several bags in their arms. They smiled warmly at Luffy. He grinned before placing a finger against his lips and pointing to his lap. Nami hurried over curiously before freezing slightly. Robin looked over the couch and widened her eyes. 

 

“Who’s that?” Nami breathed. 

 

“Torao.” Luffy breathed in response. “She doesn’t sleep good.”

 

Robin seemed to have an understanding in her eyes. Nami seemed confused and opened her mouth to say something else, but Torao chose that moment to shift in his lap, turning until her face was buried in Luffy’s stomach. She let out a soft sigh. 

 

“That’s a girl. ” Nami said. “Luffy has a girl on his lap.”

 

“Torao-kun is a girl, who would have guessed.” Robin giggled softly. “I’ve only spoken to her a few times in passing when she joined Discord. I never would have guessed.”

 

“But Luffy doesn’t like girls.” Nami said slowly, still not processing what was happening. “Boa-”

 

“Luffy just didn’t mesh well with her.” Robin interrupted. “Torao is sweet. Come, Nami. Let’s help Sanji-kun with setting up the trays for tonight.” 

 

They left Luffy alone and he continued to stroke his fingers through Torao’s hair. He traced her ear gently, poking each and every piercing before pressing the pad of his thumb against a small heart tattoo that he hadn’t noticed before behind her ear. He had a desire to see each and every tattoo and piercing that Torao had, just to count them. How many tattoos did she have? How many piercings? Luffy burned with curiosity that seemed to pool in his stomach weirdly. 

 

The smell of food was soon in the air, successfully pushing away that weird feeling. Luffy’s stomach then growled and Torao flinched before shifting slightly. 

 

“Luffy-ya.” She murmured, rolling onto her back. “Fuck, did I fall sleep?” 

 

Luffy chuckled, tracing his fingers lightly over her cheek. “Yeah, just for an hour.”

 

Torao blinked up at him with a strange look in her eyes before she sat up, her hand gripping his and holding it away from her face. She didn’t let it go as she ran the fingers of her free hand through her hair before glancing around. 

 

“There’s more people here.” She noticed. Luffy nodded, peeking toward the kitchen. He gently tugged his hand away. It burned where she had been holding it. 

 

“Yeah, usually on Saturdays everyone comes over and we have a game night. Sanji cooks a lot of snacks and food and there’s wine and board games!”

 

Torao smiled softly, something that seemed so out of place for her. “That sounds really fun. You have some good friends. I’ll get going so I don’t impose.” She made a move to stand up.

 

“What?” Luffy’s heart skipped weirdly and he yanked her back down against his side. “You want to leave? You can stay!”

 

Torao blinked at him. “Well, I…”

 

Luffy pouted at her. It seemed to work, as Torao’s cheeks tinted pink and she gave him a look of incredulity. 

 

“I need to go home to change.” She finally muttered, looking away from Luffy. “I’ll come back, if you really want me to.”

 

Luffy grinned. “Yeah, I want you to! Come back as fast as you can so we can watch more movies and have another sleepover!”

 

Torao seemed to analyze his face for a few moments before she slowly pulled away from him. “… Alright, then.”

 

Torao retrieved her shoes from Luffy’s room and pulled them on in the hallway. Luffy held her backpack hostage so that she would have to return and Torao rolled her eyes at him in exasperation before grabbing her wallet and keys from the bag in his arms, which was quite tough because Luffy refused to make it easy for her. She then smacked him in the head in annoyance before leaving the apartment. 

 

Once the door clicked closed, all eyes were suddenly on him. He set the backpack down and sighed. He might as well get it over with. He jumped up and walked to his group of friends crowding the kitchen.

 

“Luffy.” Nami said, crossing her arms. “What the fuck are you doing?”

 

“Luffy, is that your girlfriend?” Usopp asked, scratching his long nose. Luffy hadn’t even noticed that he was there. “I didn’t know you dated.”

 

“That’s super cute, man, she’s hot .” Franky said before shooting a panicked look to Robin. “In a respectful way.”

 

“Torao is just his friend.” Robin assured everyone. “She’s really sweet.”

 

“All those tattoos and piercings tell a different story.” Zoro muttered. “She looks like trouble.”

 

“She’s a beautiful lady who we shouldn’t judge by her appearance.” Sanji chastised. 

 

“She’s a doctor!” Chopper said excitedly. “She went to UGLS!”

 

“Guys, Torao is just my friend.” Luffy said, crossing his arms and frowning, not sure why he had to tell them that. “We just play games and hang out. What’s the problem? Plus she’s a weird nerd like Chopper.”

 

Chopper whined, “hey!” while the rest of his friends gave him disbelieving looks.

 

“Nah, she likes you, dude.” Zoro said sternly. “You see how she looks at you? She wants to jump your bones.”

 

“Huh?” Luffy scratched the inside of his nostril. “Likes? No way. That’s gross.”

 

But was it gross? Luffy didn’t really know how he felt. 

 

“Whatever, just don’t let anything happen.” Zoro told him sternly. “You guys got a nice little thing going. Don’t mess that up for a quick nut. Naughty shit always makes it complicated, especially when the chick has feelings involved already. Someone always wants something more and it messes up friendships. But,” Zoro paused to take a large drink of beer. “If you end up fuckin’ her, definitely don’t fuck her twice or you’ll have to marry her.”

 

Luffy really didn’t understand. His brain turned over Zoro’s words repeatedly as his friends laughed, trying to make sense of them. He missed the look that Zoro shot Sanji. 

 

“The bone thing makes sense, though, since she’s a doctor.” Luffy finally said unhelpfully. That earned a few flabbergasted looks and one confused one from Chopper. Zoro simply shook his head in defeat. 

 

“When did Torao come over?” Robin asked to redirect the conversation. Luffy scratched the inside of his nostril. 

 

“Yesterday.” He said. “We slept together.” 

 

“Did you use protection?” Usopp asked in a hesitant voice. Luffy blinked slowly. 

 

“We used different blankets, so I guess.”

 

His friends collectively groaned. Luffy shrugged and made his way back to his room to get ready to take a shower. He felt like he was covered in Torao’s saliva and was bored with the questions. It probably didn’t matter what he said, anyways. Zoro didn’t ever make any sense and Robin was weird. But he was used to that. 

 

He cleaned up and put on new clothes before remembering to change the laundry to the dryer. 

 

He joined his friends in the dining room to help set up the table for their game night. He groaned as Robin and Nami fussed with his hair, earning a few excited chuckles. They were going to play a weird game with wizards that Usopp wanted to try, something Luffy did not have interest in. His mind was too busy wondering when Torao would come back. 

 

A few more friends arrived and suddenly the apartment was bustling with friendly chatter and the sound of clinking glasses. Luffy said hello to every single person, even Vivi, and grinned as soon as Torao returned.

 

###

 

Chapter 8: 8

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Torao's outfit was very weird, Luffy thought, as he examined the shirt that didn’t cover her whole stomach and the skinny, ripped up jeans that looked like they needed to be thrown away. She didn’t have any sleeves on, which showed off several of her tattoos that Luffy still didn’t understand the longer he looked at them. Maybe he would ask her to explain the meaning of them. He didn’t know why he even wanted to understand. 

 

Torao then shivered and rubbed her arms, which was even weirder, because if she had worn more clothes, she wouldn’t be cold. That made him snicker to himself.

 

She spotted Luffy in the kitchen and slowly made her way over to him, weaving between bodies without so much as bumping against them. Many of the people in the apartment glanced at her in surprise.

 

“There’s a lot of people here.” Torao commented as she stood again too close to Luffy. Her golden eyes were scanning the living room. “These are all your friends?”

 

“Some of my friends brought their own friends.” Luffy said, looking around and subtly stepping away. “I don’t really know everyone but I still said hello.”

 

Torao looked at him, raising an eyebrow. He noticed that her face looked very smooth and her eyes seemed like they had some black makeup on them. He liked how it made her eyes look bigger.

 

She rolled her eyes at him before stepping a bit closer again. Luffy wondered why she did that but didn’t let himself dwell on it as his eyes scanned the party around them. Most of his friends were laughing and having a great time and it gave Luffy the fantastic idea that Torao should meet all his friends. It was a great idea.

 

Luffy grabbed Torao’s hand, grinning widely. He definitely needed to introduce her to everyone! Then they would invite her along after they finished leveling because she would be their friend, too!

 

Her face turned all red and Luffy proceeded to drag her around to each person to introduce her. He didn’t remember everyone’s names but figured it was fine. That was what nicknames were for. Torao corrected her name each time Luffy introduced her as "Torao", all while giving him an exasperated look. They received many giggles and curious looks that Luffy didn’t see, but Torao did. Luffy thought she was holding his hand too tight but whatever.

 

“I’d like a drink.” Torao said after meeting over twenty people. Luffy redirected their path back to the kitchen and led her to the array of drinks currently sprawled across the kitchen island.

 

“There’s beer if you want.” Luffy told her. “It’s not very good.”

 

“I thought you didn’t drink because you were too young?” Torao said in a teasing voice as she grabbed a bottle of beer. Luffy took it from her and opened it with his teeth, earning a wild look of disbelief and a smack to the head.

 

“I always drink when we have parties.” Luffy said, holding onto her hand so she couldn’t hit him again. “Just a bit. I’m allowed to drink at home.”

 

“And where’s home?”

 

“Goa.” Luffy smiled sadly. He then grabbed a beer for himself and opened it with his front teeth before Torao could stop him. She looked completely offended and tried to pull her hand from his grasp. He was stronger. 

 

“Oh my God!” She yelled at him. “Don’t use your front teeth, you idiot!”

 

“Well, you’ll fix them if anything happens, since you’re a nerd dentist.” He laughed at his own joke. Torao clenched her teeth and he couldn’t resist tapping her nose with his finger. Teasing her was so fun. 

 

“You’re getting too comfortable, Luffy-ya.” She muttered as she took a large drink of her beer. “Too fucking comfortable.”

 

“I’m always comfortable.” Luffy protested, not really getting what she was trying to say. That earned him another teasing smile and a slight bump against his shoulder. He bumped her back, causing her to press against him with a shake of her head. 

 

“It’s time to play Wizard Dungeon and Dragon Slayer!” Usopp suddenly yelled, causing most of the party to cheer in excitement. Luffy met Torao's eyes and offered a wide grin.

 

The wizard game ended up being incredibly boring. Usopp and Chopper were the only ones interested in it and Zoro had started an unofficial drinking competition with nearly everyone, including Torao. Torao was really good at drinking and almost caught up to Nami and Zoro, but she eventually got too tipsy. 

 

She leaned heavily against Luffy’s side and he patted her face gently. It was as smooth as it looked. She repeatedly swatted his hand away but he didn’t want to stop touching her face, so he kept doing it until she gave up and allowed it. The palm of his hand brushed against her lips and he stilled slightly, a tingle zinging up his arm and down to his stomach. Torao shoved his hand away so she could take a drink of her wine.

 

“My wizard spell wipes out the plague that the witch cast.” Usopp declared. “Go, magic blizzard wizard!”

 

“Amazing!” Chopper cried, drinking Mountain Dew out of a curly straw. “So cool!”

 

Luffy didn’t pay them much attention because he was too busy watching Torao’s lips on the edge of her wine glass.

 

A few hours later, most everyone had left. Only Luffy’s core friends remained, and they found themselves crammed into the living room, chatting casually as Usopp tried to start a game of spin-the-bottle. A drunk Torao continued to lean against Luffy, a teetering glass of red wine held between dainty fingers. Her lips were darker than they had been at the start of the night, stained with the red wine. Luffy had trouble not looking at them.

 

Nami was equally as wasted as her, leaning against a blushing Sanji. Robin was seated on Franky’s lap and his arm was loosely wrapped around her waist to steady her. Zoro was asleep against the wall, snoring loudly. Usopp gave up on his game and started telling Chopper a wild story about whatever. Luffy didn’t really care. 

 

“So, Torao.” Nami slurred suddenly, causing Torao to grunt in response and look at her. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

 

Torao sat up straight, frowning. She wobbled slightly. “Nah, I don’t date.” She said after a moment spent steadying herself. She then slumped back against Luffy’s arm. “Men seem to just want me for my money.”

 

“Ah, I get that.” Nami got a twinkle in her eye. “Do you have a lot of money?"

 

The group laughed. Luffy wondered if he should put his arm around Torao like Franky was doing to Robin. Torao kept moving all over the place. She could fall over. 

 

Luffy snaked an arm around her stomach, holding her firmly against him. Torao stiffened slightly but didn’t push him away. Her face was red as she responded to Nami.

 

“‘m a doctor, of course I have a lot of money.”

 

Nami was grinning then, a dangerous glint in her eys. “And what do you think about Luffy?”

 

Torao turned her head to stare at Luffy, a small smile on her lips that was almost teasing. Luffy frowned at her and didn’t like that Nami asked that question. Why was his stomach twisting now? Was he hungry? What was Torao going to say?

 

“He’s really cute.” Torao said finally, grinning. That earned a few laughs and whooping noises. Luffy glared at her and shoved her away from himself, nearly spilling her wine. Torao simply smirked and downed the contents of the glass. She slammed it on the table before leaning close to Luffy again with a grin that could rival his own. 

 

“What’s wrong, cutie?” She teased. 

 

“Stop saying embarrassing things, Torao. Don’t be weird.” He placed his hand over her face and pushed her away from him. She was too close. Torao settled herself on his knee, grinning wildly. He gently placed his arm back around her waist to make sure she didn’t fall but kept an eye on her in case she tried to tease him again. 

 

Luckily his friends didn’t ask any more weird questions. It was well past midnight at that point and most of them said their goodbyes and left. Zoro retired to his room with a wave and Sanji quietly cleaned up the rest of the food and drink mess in the kitchen. Most everyone had helped before they left and there wasn’t much left for him to do. 

 

“Night, Luffy.” Sanji announced a few moments later. Chopper and Torao continued to talk quietly, Torao now perched more on Luffy’s lap than just his knee. He liked her warmth, though he didn’t like that he felt tingly where she was sitting on him.

 

Most of Torao’s drunkenness had worn off, as she had downed several glasses of sparkling water. Chopper had stars in his eyes due to whatever Torao was saying to him and Luffy grinned excitedly. He was so glad that his friends were getting along with Torao. He shifted his arm and splayed his hand across her stomach, not missing the way that Torao’s voice got all high-pitched. He didn’t know what was wrong with her. All he knew was that he could feel her piercings through her shirt and that his hand nearly covered her entire stomach. 

 

“That’s so cool.” Chopper said, letting out a happy sigh. “I really want to go there… My mom said it’s so competitive, but I’ve been trying really hard to keep my grades really good!” 

 

“That’s good, just make sure you keep your GPA high.” Torao said, shifting on Luffy’s lap. He stiffened and held her tighter, a strange feeling blooming between his legs. What the heck was that? It almost felt like…

 

He did not hear the rest of their conversation. He was too focused on every single part of his body that was touching Torao’s. He felt like he needed to hold still.

 

Chopper then went to bed after a long yawn and Luffy bit his lip. Torao stood up from his lap and his hand fell to the side of the sofa. They were the only ones left in the living room.

 

“You are sleeping over again, right?” He asked hesitantly, the words hard to get out of his mouth for some reason. Torao gave him an analyzing look. 

 

“Do you want me to?” She asked quietly, a loaded question. Luffy nodded, not sure why he felt as though he had sealed his fate.

 

They made their way back to Luffy’s room in the darkness, Torao’s fingers grasped lightly in Luffy’s own. He wanted to make sure she didn’t trip because of how dark it was.

 

He didn’t bother turning on the light in his room. Torao pulled her fingers from his grasp and he heard her flop onto his bed a few moments later. He shut the bedroom door and turned the lock before swallowing his sudden nervousness. His mind was trying to figure out how to think about why he was feeling like that but nothing seemed to stick.

 

Luffy climbed onto his side of the bed, the mattress creaking slightly. He patted around to feel where Torao was before moving up against the pillows. He laid down on his back and stared at the dark ceiling before adjusting himself so he faced toward Torao, in case she had a nightmare again and he needed to help.

 

“Good night.” He said to her. He felt her shift. 

 

“Night.” She responded, sounding as though she were facing toward him too. 

 

Luffy tried to sleep but found himself too high-strung. He kept moving his legs to try to find a more comfortable position but nothing seemed to work. He moved his leg again, stilling slightly when he felt Torao’s own legs. 

 

“Sorry.” He muttered.

 

“That’s okay.” She responded, sounded equally as awake as he was.

 

He didn’t know who started it, but suddenly they were kicking their bare feet together in a way that was strange to Luffy. Why did it make his stomach feel fuzzy? Why was he feeling so nervous?

 

“We didn’t get to play the game today.” He whispered, swallowing that nervousness. Torao shifted slightly, her clothed shin resting against Luffy’s knee. Their legs remained tangled together.

 

“It was a fun day, though.” She whispered back. She then let out a deep sigh. “Fuck, I drank too much alcohol. Is it hot in here?” 

 

Luffy’s face had felt hot the entire night so he nodded. “Yeah, it’s hot.”

 

He heard a rustling and felt a shifting and widened his eyes when he realized that Torao was taking off her pants. She seemed to struggle and Luffy rolled his eyes, though his heart had picked up speed. 

 

“It’s because there’s too many holes and they are too tight.” He told her, frowning at how wobbly his voice sounded. He swallowed. “You should get new clothes.”

 

Torao laughed breathlessly before kicking the jeans onto the floor. Her legs immediately tangled back into his. “You know what, Luffy-ya, you’re right. I need to change my style.”

 

Luffy swallowed again. He felt like he had cotton in his mouth. He couldn’t really see Torao in the dark but could see her nose piercing occasionally shimmering in the reflection of the moonlight that was shining through his half-opened window behind him. He had an urge to touch it again and resisted.

 

“Thanks for allowing me to hang out with you.” Torao suddenly whispered, sounding as if she was closer than she had been a moment ago. “Really.”

 

“You’re getting sentimental again.” Luffy snickered, though for some reason, his heart skipped a beat. Torao giggled in a super girly way that must have been because she drank too much. Her legs moved slightly.

 

“Sorry. It’s still hot in here, huh?”

 

Luffy felt that strange feeling between his legs and shifted them away from hers. “Um, a little bit.”

 

The air felt stuffy and heavy all of a sudden. Luffy sat up and pulled off his shirt, breathing a sigh of relief. He froze when he heard Torao removing her own shirt.

 

“Does this bother you?” She breathed. The words seemed to snake around Luffy’s body tightly and he suppressed a shiver. 

 

“N-no.” He stuttered. “Get comfortable.”

 

They laid back down, still facing each other, and were silent for a few minutes. Luffy scooted slightly closer to her, heart hammering with an anticipation that he didn’t understand. That spot between his legs pulsed again and he realized with embarrassment that his dick was getting hard. What was happening? That hadn’t ever happened before. Sometimes he woke up like that but it had never happened when he was awake. 

 

He heard another rustling and another article of clothing hit the floor. Luffy didn’t know what it had been. He didn’t know what he was doing. He gulped and hesitated before pushing down his shorts. It was so warm in the room. He was left in his boxers, which were feeling too tight. 

 

Torao moved slightly closer and Luffy felt bare skin press against his arm. He flinched slightly and let out a breath. Torao’s face was very close to his. He didn’t have a lot of air. 

 

“Luffy-ya.” Torao suddenly whispered. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Sorry for what?” Luffy gulped. She moved closer, her nose bumping his slightly. His heart was going to beat out of his chest.

 

“I think I have a little crush on you.” Torao breathed, her hot breath washing over his mouth. “Ever since I saw you in that cafe. No, probably before that. Ever since you called me rude.”

 

Luffy gasped softly, heart suddenly hammering even harder. “A crush? But that’s… but I called you rude in the game… how…”

 

Torao moved closer. Luffy could feel her trembling lips against his chin. He didn’t pull away and instead pulled his arm from between them to rest against his leg.

 

“I feel so comfortable around you.” Torao whispered. “I don’t know… I tried not to like you like that…”

 

Luffy gulped again. His heart was going to beat out of his ears. She liked him? Did that mean she wanted to kiss him?…

 

She shifted again. She was too close. She was too naked. She was too…

 

Luffy licked his lips. He hadn’t had a kiss before. It suddenly didn’t seem so gross to him. He burned with curiosity. What was it like? Was it fun to do? Torao already taught him so much… maybe…

 

Luffy made his decision and moved closer, his bare chest causing Torao’s breasts to squish against him. He felt little points of cold metal and wondered what else she had pierced. He licked his lips again before tilting his head down slightly. Torao’s lips were ready and waiting and met his in a chaste kiss. Luffy’s heart seemed to explode as he felt her soft mouth against his own. She tasted like wine and vanilla, something that he found intoxicating. He let out a fast breath before pulling back nervously. So that was a kiss. It wasn’t very cool, if he were honest.

 

“Luffy-ya?” Torao asked softly. He swallowed and decided that he wanted to touch her hair, so he brought his hand up to cup the back of her head. He kissed her again without any hesitation.

 

Luffy didn’t know what to do. He hadn't ever been in a situation like that before. He hadn’t ever wanted to be in one. Torao was so… pretty. He thought she was so pretty. And she was funny, and sassy, and he really liked her tattoos…

 

Torao seemed to be experienced with kissing because before Luffy knew it, her lips were moving against his firmly. He flinched as her tongue slid into his mouth, more heat suddenly rushing between his legs and pooling in his stomach again. He squirmed slightly and gasped loudly as Torao’s body was suddenly pressed against his. She let out a soft noise and her kiss turned sloppy. Luffy liked how wet it was and licked into her mouth as he moved his hand to her bare waist. He could taste her more that way, with the tongue kiss. 

 

Torao squirmed against him and let out a gasp, pressing against his hardness which caused him to grunt and buck his hips. He wanted her to keep pressing against it but she kept wiggling all over the place.

 

Torao broke away from the kiss, her hands gripping his arms tightly. “You… do you want to…”

 

Luffy had no idea what she was asking him and instead pressed soft kisses against her cheeks, causing her to sigh. Their lips met again and they rolled around slightly, Torao ending up beneath him. Her knees framed his hips and she seemed to tremble against him. Luffy settled himself closer, his clothed crotch pressing against hers. She was so warm. He settled his full body weight on her to keep her still.

 

Torao let out a breathless gasp, her fingers digging into his sides. “L-Luffy-ya…” She moaned. “F-fuck.”

 

Luffy had the urge to grind against her and he did just that. He kissed her hard as he did it, something that seemed to turn her into jelly. His own hands were uselessly gripping the pillow underneath Torao’s head as his tongue demanded entry into her mouth again. 

 

She suddenly reached up to pull at his left wrist. He shifted his weight on her and allowed her to pull his hand, which she pressed against her breast. Luffy widened his eyes and broke the kiss as his hand was filled with supple skin. He squeezed experimentally, causing Torao to arch her back beneath him. He felt that cold metal against his palm and tried to look at it, but it was too dark, so he used his fingers instead to feel. He widened his eyes at the metal that framed her nipple.

 

He wanted to lick them.

 

Luffy followed his urges and immediately ducked his head to mouth at the piercing. Torao let out a loud scream, something that Luffy thought she should not do, lest his roommates hear. He covered her mouth with his hand, feeling her hot breath and drooly lips all over his skin. Torao was always drooling. For some reason it wasn’t gross to Luffy. 

 

He continued to swirl his tongue around the metal, sucking noisily at the skin. He didn’t know why but he enjoyed the taste of her. Torao panted beneath him, her chest rising and falling quickly with every breath she took. Luffy moved to her other nipple, stopping to suck the skin of her breast hard. It felt so interesting in his mouth, unlike anything he had felt before. He removed his hand from her mouth so that he could squeeze and cup her other breast again.

 

Torao was an absolute mess. The room was again illuminated with moonlight and Luffy took advantage of it to examine her. He kissed all over her chest, realizing that he could trace each tattoo with his tongue now that they were kissing. It was some sort of heart, he realized. He traced his wet tongue down the curve of the heart between her breasts, down to her stomach, where another, diamond-shaped marking framed her pierced navel. Her skin did not taste any different with the ink on it, something that Luffy didn’t dwell on because he was having so much fun. He traced his tongue all around her piercings, liking the feeling of them against his tongue. He even tongued the dip of her belly button.

 

“L-Luffy-ya.” Torao gasped, her fingers suddenly in his hair. “P-please.”

 

Luffy looked up in surprise. He could kind of see her glistening skin in the moonlight but he couldn’t see her face, though that might have been because her head was thrown back. Luffy didn’t know what she wanted or even what he was doing to her so he continued to tongue at her piercings. He moved to her hips, one at a time, feeling the sharp bumps against his tongue curiously. How did one pierce such a strange part of the body? He didn’t know. 

 

Torao’s hands were rough as they pulled his hair and he realized she was directing him between her legs. Luffy hesitated as he eyed the white pair of underwear. Torao obviously wanted him to do something there, so he pressed his mouth over the fabric. Another loud scream ripped itself from Torao’s throat and he gave her an irritated look. She pulled a pillow over her face.

 

“Take them off.” She mumbled into the pillow. Luffy licked his lips, savoring the bizarre taste, before gently tugging the underwear down her tattooed thighs. He didn’t care that she had told him what to do. He was having fun. 

 

Torao was really cute underneath the fabric, with neatly trimmed black curls. He wished they had turned on the light or something so he could see her better. 

 

He threw her underwear somewhere across the room and gently traced his fingers around the perfectly manicured hairs. They were coarse against his fingertips. Could he kiss her there? He did want to taste her again…

 

He lowered his face and traced his nose over the hairs before sliding his tongue between her wet folds, where the flavor was the strongest. A slightly bitter yet addicting flavor burst over his taste buds and the consistency of her wetness was so interesting that he couldn’t help but drag his tongue over her again and again. Torao’s legs flew apart and she groaned into the pillow. Luffy was glad that her sounds were muffled because she was so loud for some reason. It was just kissing, what was the big deal? 

 

Luffy really liked the taste of her. He devoured her messily, slurping and sucking the lips of her pussy. He couldn’t get enough of her. 

 

He slid his tongue up and down her slit, pausing when he felt that familiar metal against his tongue. She even had a piercing there. Right above the spot that she seemed to like Luffy’s tongue on the most. Luffy sucked the piercing into his mouth and rubbed his tongue roughly against that spot for a few moments before sliding his tongue back down to an area that seemed to have even more of that taste he liked. He dipped his tongue inside, where it was impossibly warm, and flinched as Torao nearly ripped his hair out. Her screams were hardly muffled by the pillow as her body trembled and convulsed wildly. Luffy lapped up all the extra fluids that seemed to flow out of her freely, using his fingers to play with her piercing, which only seemed to prolong her trembling. He curiously slid his finger between her folds and pulled her lips back, realizing that it must have been that spot-

 

Torao gripped his wrist before he could plunge his finger inside of her. 

 

“W-wait.” She breathed. “N-no penetration.”

 

Luffy parted his lips. What was that supposed to mean?

 

Torao tugged at his shoulders until he moved back up her body. Torao claimed his lips again, the kiss even more sloppy than before. Torao moaned against his lips before her hands were suddenly on his hips. She flipped them quickly, slamming Luffy down to the mattress with surprising strength. She smirked down at him in triumph before quickly moving down his body before he could even attempt to wrestle her again. She tugged down his boxers and Luffy embarrassingly covered himself. He was so hard. He didn’t want her to make fun of him. 

 

But Torao was disarmingly patient and kind as she kissed over his hands, golden eyes meeting his own. 

 

“My turn.” She murmured. “You gonna let me?”

 

Luffy didn’t understand, but he moved his hands. He watched as his cock pulsed hard, nearly hitting her in the nose. Torao had a crazed look on her face as she gazed at his erection. 

 

“Fuck, you’re big.” She breathed, the hot air of her mouth causing him to twitch again. “And so thick. Fuck.”

 

Luffy had never received such compliments before and didn’t know how to respond, but his dick pulsed again. He didn’t have time to think before Torao’s tongue was licking all around his shaft. 

 

Her lips brushed soft kisses against him and he whined with a need he didn’t know he had. Every brush of her soft lips against the head of his dick was torture. Her hot tongue rubbed against his tip and Luffy gasped suddenly, reaching down. Torao beat him to whatever he was trying to do, her delicate fingers wrapping around the base of his hard cock. She pulled down his foreskin and immediately wrapped her wet lips around his newly exposed head. Luffy bit into his hand as his hips bucked, another embarrassing whine escaping his lips.

 

It felt amazing. He had never felt something like that before. Her wet mouth was so good and so impossibly hot. His fingers found her hair and he tugged wildly, trying to get more of it into her mouth, earning a chuckle from Torao. The vibrations caused his hips to jerk and he groaned out loud. The feeling was so hard for him to describe. It almost felt like little bolts of electricity zapping through him. 

 

Torao moved down his shaft and Luffy made a surprised noise as his dick slid down her throat. His cock pulsed as it was trapped inside of her wet mouth, small shockwaves of pleasure shooting up his dick to his stomach. He couldn’t breathe. 

 

“Oh my God.” Luffy groaned loudly. “What are you doing? Oh, please don’t stop!”

 

Torao didn’t stop. She bobbed her head up and down and each wet stroke on his shaft was better than the last. Her mouth was hot and tight and so damn wet and it slid so perfectly around his pulsing dick. He felt as though pressure was building and he was approaching something. 

 

Luffy began to thrust his hips wildly, something that Torao stopped with a simple, slightly ticklish press of her hands on his sides. She moved faster, swallowing around him. Luffy let out a string of curses that he had never said before as he was forced over that edge, the heat pooling in his stomach so unbearable that he exploded. He let out a loud, embarrassing moan as he shot down her throat, hips jerking uncontrollably. Torao pulled back just to suckle on his head as her fingers once again wrapped around his shaft. She jerked him off slowly, swallowing everything he gave to her. Luffy finally slumped against the mattress and tried to catch his breath. Torao sucked lazily on his slightly softening cock before pulling away with a smirk. 

 

“Good?” She whispered. Luffy met her eyes in confusion. What had just happened?

 

Zoro’s words before the party suddenly clicked in his head, shattering through his lust-filled haze.

 

Torao moved up to curl against his side. Luffy swallowed hard, eyes pricking for some reason. Why did he want to cry? What was happening? 

 

It was all ruined, right? Those had definitely been naughty kisses. He had done what Zoro had specifically told him not to.

 

Luffy suddenly had a tight throat. He sucked in a breath as Torao traced patterns over his chest. What had just happened? That was it, right? Their friendship would be over. It was exactly what Zoro had been trying to protect him from. He felt tears streaming down his face and wiped them away in anger. He didn’t want to not be friends with Torao. It wasn’t fair. He had just met her and he really liked her! Why did he have to mess it up?!

 

Torao sensed his turmoil and sat up, her thumb tracing the scar under his eye softly as she cupped his cheek. “Are you okay? Fuck, did I push you too far? I’m sorry. I always ruin everything. Just fucking great.” She released him and made a move to get up from the bed. 

 

Luffy sniffled and blinked. What was she saying? He quickly grabbed her hand, meeting her conflicted eyes. 

 

“I don’t wanna stop being friends.” He told her shakily. “Z-Zoro told me that naughty stuff makes things so complicated.”

 

Torao gave him a confused look. “Zoro did? What did he say? Did he say something about me?”

 

“He said someone always wants something more and it always ruins friendships-”

 

“What?”

 

“And I think you’re so cool, even though you aren’t the guy I thought you were, and now I kinda like it and I don’t want to stop being friends!”

 

“Wait, wait. Luffy-ya, this is different.” Torao interrupted. She reached over Luffy to turn on the bedside lamp with a huff. Luffy gazed up at her in wonder, eyes not knowing where to look. She was beautiful. How had he not noticed it before? 

 

“Different?” Luffy asked unsurely. Torao nodded, running her fingers through her messy hair. She gave up as her fingers got stuck. Her eyes slowly met his own. 

 

“Yeah. I like you, Luffy-ya. I don’t know why, but I like you. Romantically.”

 

Luffy gulped. 

 

“I’m not expecting you to return my feelings. You barely know me. That’s unrealistic. Somehow, I fell hard, and fast, and… Fuck, now I’ve pushed you into this weird sexual tension. I just couldn’t resist you any longer. Not since I finally got to meet you.”

 

Luffy frowned. “I never do anything I don’t want to do.” He told her. “You can’t push me to do anything!”

 

Torao smirked. “I made you eat vegetables this morning.”

 

“I wanted to eat them!” Luffy was yelling now. Torao’s eyes flashed with amusement.

 

“Oh, you did? Just like you wanted to have sex with me all night long, right? You came to bed wanting that?”

 

Luffy ignored that because he hadn’t wanted to do anything like that until a few moments ago. He blurted, “You’re so pretty!”

 

There was a knock on Luffy’s door that interrupted Torao’s response. Luffy looked toward the wood fearfully. 

 

“Luffy?” He recognized Zoro’s gruff voice. “Come talk to me, buddy.”

 

Torao then smirked at Luffy, lowering her lips to his ear. “Zoro is so protective, isn’t he? He probably heard us.” Torao nibbled on Luffy’s ear slightly, causing him to gasp and raise his shoulder. He hated the feeling of her hot breath inside of his ear. 

 

Torao then licked him and he went rigid with disgust. “We aren’t done with this conversation. Go.”

 

Luffy pushed Torao off of him with a glare before he jumped up, wiping his ear off. 

 

“I’m going because I want to.” He told her sternly with a finger jabbed in her direction. “Not because you’re bossing me around.”

 

Torao just smirked at him in that teasing way that she always did. He pulled on his shorts without his boxers and gave Torao a hard look. 

 

“Don’t put clothes on.” He told her firmly. Torao’s eyes widened and her cheeks tinted pink. Luffy turned without waiting for a response and yanked open his door, meeting the surprised eyes of Zoro. Zoro tried to look into the room but Luffy pulled the door shut quickly. 

 

“Luffy.” Zoro hissed, following Luffy to the kitchen. “What the fuck happened? I heard yelling.”

 

Luffy began to messily prepare the coffee maker. “Torao got a little weird.” He muttered, trying to process all of his feelings. Zoro tilted Luffy’s chin up. 

 

“You were crying.” He murmured. “You okay? You need me to kick her out?”

 

Luffy bit his lip. “No, she…” He suddenly flushed, earning a surprised look from Zoro. He didn’t really want to tell Zoro about what had happened, but… He nervously scratched his bare chest over his scar. Zoro might understand, right?

 

Luffy pressed the start button on the coffee maker before sweeping the extra grounds onto the floor. Zoro would probably have some more advice for him, since he apparently knew that things got complicated between friends. He scratched the back of his head. “We kinda kissed.”

 

Zoro’s jaw dropped. “What? What do you mean ‘kinda’?! You either do or you don’t!”

 

Luffy crossed his arms. “I dunno, Zoro, it was super hot in the room and we got all naked and then we kissed a lot.”

 

Zoro blinked. The coffee maker sputtered as it continued brewing into the pot. The smell of coffee wafted around them.

 

“Did you fuck her?” Zoro asked. Luffy shrugged with disinterest. 

 

“I don’t really know anything about this stuff.”

 

Zoro suddenly crowded Luffy’s space. Luffy gave him a scowl and leaned back. 

 

“Luffy, tell me what you did.” He said in a stern voice. “You can’t just fuck her and then leave her alone like that!”

 

“You’re the one who made me leave! I just kissed her.” Luffy defended. “All over her body. And she really liked it when I kissed her between her legs. She said no penetration when I tried to touch her. Is that fucking?”

 

Zoro seemed to relax, despite the fact that his cheeks were pink. “Alright. No, it isn’t. That’s good. Fuck, Luffy. You ate her out? I heard screaming.”

 

“I didn’t tell her to.” Luffy quickly defended. Zoro managed to look even more uncomfortable. 

 

“You didn’t listen to anything I said earlier, did you?” Zoro sighed and crossed his arms. “Why did you do that? How did it even go in that direction?”

 

“Torao said she liked me.” Luffy said as he crossed his arms. “She said she had a crush on me. Then she kissed all over my mouth and I kissed all over her body.”

 

“And you just started eating her out? How did that even progress that far?! You’ve never kissed someone before!”

 

Luffy frowned. “I dunno. It felt natural. And it just tasted really good. I just wanted to eat it all. Kind of like when I have a really good piece of meat-”

 

“Okay, that’s enough.” Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright, uh, I think I need to tell you about sex now. I never thought this day would come.”

 

“Who’s telling Luffy about sex?” Sanji was suddenly in the kitchen, frowning at the mess of coffee grounds and water on the counter. “Why waste your time on that?”

 

“He might need some condoms.” Zoro muttered as he scratched the back of his head. “Didn’t you hear them?”

 

“I was in the shower.” Sanji frowned. “Are you joking? Did Luffy fuck her?”

 

“Not with penetration.” Luffy corrected. “I just kissed her.”

 

“Oh. What the fuck, mosshead, don’t scare me like that. No way can Luffy land a sexy lady like that.”

 

“That sexy lady just had her brains sucked out of her.” Zoro smirked and crossed his arms. “By our virgin friend here.”

 

Sanji widened his eyes. “You’re being serious?”

 

“I’m not fucking repeating myself, cook.”

 

“I’m surprised you found your way to this conversation, you fucking mosshead.”

 

“The fuck did you just say, curly?”

 

Luffy wanted to stop having that conversation and go back to Torao. He retrieved a coffee mug and filled it with freshly brewed coffee, spilling some on the counter and adding to the mess. Zoro and Sanji watched him carefully.

 

“I’m so confused.” Sanji muttered. “He’s even making her coffee.”

 

“I’m gonna go back now.” Luffy said, grabbing a diet Dr. Pepper from the fridge. “I wanna hang out with Torao some more.” 

 

He left before they could say anything else. 

 

Torao was sitting up against his headboard when he returned, confidently naked. Luffy shut the door with a grin. Torao gave him a look of disbelief as she accepted the steaming mug of coffee. 

 

“You made me coffee?” She asked curiously. 

 

“Duh.” Luffy rolled his eyes. Torao looked into the mug. 

 

“Without me asking? You just did it?”

 

“You’re being kinda dumb.” Luffy stated. Torao scowled at him. He opened his soda and took a large drink, climbing onto the bed again. He leaned over Torao to grab the remote control from his nightstand. Torao gazed up at him with her lips slightly parted. Luffy met her eyes before dropping a light kiss against them. He liked how plump her lips were against his own and could not resist his desire to linger.

 

The kiss seemed to start something between them again because, a few moments later, Torao was straddling his hips, grinding against him. A random movie played in the background as their tongues fought for dominance. Luffy held handfuls of her bare ass and was forcing her to rub hard against his cock. He didn’t even know what he wanted but it felt so good to rub her against it. 

 

“Fuck. Do you have a condom?” Torao breathed. Luffy parted his lips to allow her tongue inside again. His heart hammered in his chest and he shook his head. 

 

“Why?” He asked as her kisses moved to his neck. She nipped and sucked the skin roughly, causing him to gasp in surprise. He tightened his hands on her and tilted his head to give her more space.

 

“So you can fuck me, Luffy-ya.”

 

Luffy wished he had let Zoro tell him about sex. He didn’t want to seem stupid in front of Torao. 

 

She seemed to pick up on something anyways and pulled back slightly, gazing down at him sternly. 

 

“You’ve fucked someone before.” It wasn’t a question. Luffy bit his lip and shrugged. Torao blinked at him. 

 

“I’ve never kissed anyone either.” He also admitted. Torao widened her eyes. She then slid off of his lap and sat up. Luffy immediately missed her warmth. 

 

She eyed him almost apprehensively. “Fuck, Luffy-ya. Why didn’t you say anything? I’m such an asshole.”

 

Luffy frowned at her from his spot on the mattress. He did not like how she was looking at him. “You’re being stupid again.”

 

Torao scowled at him and lifted her coffee mug from the nightstand. “I’m not being stupid. I just almost took your virginity like some… shark.”

 

“You can’t take anything from me.” Luffy sat up and crossed his legs. His shorts stretched uncomfortably over his erection and he reached down to adjust it, surprised at how wet the front of his shorts were. 

 

He watched Torao take a sip of her coffee, a small drop leaking out of the corner of her mouth and sliding down between her bare breasts. Luffy’s mouth watered and he waited until the mug was safely back on the table before he lunged at her, effectively pinning her to his mattress. His tongue raked across the valley between her breasts, tearing a breathless gasp from Torao’s lips. 

 

The bitter taste of the coffee wasn’t entirely unpleasant when it was mixed with the taste of her skin and Luffy found his mouth back over a pierced nipple, enjoying the elasticity of her skin as he couldn’t resist chewing it. He could see her piercings now and noticed they were shaped like cute little hearts.

 

“Teach me.” Luffy muttered with his mouth full of her breast. Torao’s hands gripped his hair again. “Teach me how to fuck you.” She sighed softly, extending her legs until they were on either side of him. 

 

“We should take things slow.” She murmured. “Lu- fuck, stop chewing on my breast!”

 

Luffy looked up at her as he continued to suckle the skin between his lips and teeth. Her glare was weak and her face was too red to be taken seriously. His tongue was sloppy and wet as he smeared it over her breast. He allowed her to pull his mouth away, satisfied at the look of the blooming red and purple bite marks now dusting her pale skin. 

 

“Let me take you out.” Torao whispered to him, fingers burying themselves in his hair. “To dinner. A movie. Something. Anything.”

 

Luffy hummed as Torao began to massage his scalp. “What about the beach?”

 

“I mean. That’s fine, too, but we could go to a nice place. Get to know each other. Before we, um, take the next step. We should make sure that this is something you want.”

 

Luffy thought about her chosen words with pursed lips. She slid one hand to his cheek.

 

“Like an all-you-can-eat place?” Luffy pressed. Torao rolled her eyes. 

 

“I wasn’t aware that there were any other options when it came to you.”

 

That sounded a lot like a date to him.

 

Luffy suddenly grinned. “Are you trying to date me, Torao?”

 

Torao blushed deeply and also scowled. “Apparently I’m not doing a good enough job.”

 

“But I thought you didn’t date.”

 

“For fuck’s sake, Luffy-ya.”

 

Luffy stared into her golden eyes, chewing his lip. That was fine, right? He wanted to play games with her… but now that he knew that he liked to kiss her… and she was so pretty…

 

Getting to know her in this new way might not be so bad. 

 

“You’re killing me with the suspense here, Luffy-ya.” Torao said flatly. “Can I at least put some clothes on?”

 

Luffy hummed, looking down at her chest. Her skin was so interesting to him with the combination of the black tattoos and the piercings, in addition to the bites he had left all over her skin. He wondered why her skin was lighter in some places. Her hips also dipped in sharply, which seemed strange. Not to mention that he could see her ribs through her skin as she laid back against his pillows. Her nipples were also darker than his own, and much larger. Were all women like that? But she was so…

 

He blinked. He was getting distracted.

 

“I’ll date you.” Luffy said, meeting her relieved eyes. “But you gotta promise me you’ll eat something at the restaurant.”

 

Torao stiffened slightly. Luffy frowned at her, poking firmly at her ribs. She pushed his hand away gently with a flinch. Luffy suddenly grinned and gripped both of her bony sides with his fingers. Torao convulsed with a surprised gasp. 

 

“Stop, stop!” She shrieked. “Please don’t!”

 

“Are you gonna eat something, Torao?” Luffy asked with a wicked grin, holding her firmly in his grip. He was a master at tickle fights, mostly because he himself was not ticklish. He used to tickle Chopper until he cried. 

 

Torao shot him a frantic look as if he had discovered her ultimate secret. Then she was glaring at him.

 

“You’re always manipulating me.” She snapped. Luffy released her sides and instead slid his hands up to her breasts, where he squeezed them. Torao watched him carefully as he gently rested his chin on her sternum, looking up at her. He didn’t want her to be mad at him.

 

“I just want to see you eat.” He admitted, mumbling. “We’ve been hanging out for two days and I’ve only seen you take two bites yesterday. And I bet you didn’t eat at home when you went.”

 

Torao seemed almost uncomfortable but eventually sighed, her fingers trailing up his spine. Luffy pouted for dramatic effect and her fingers tugged the hair at the nape of his neck.

 

“Okay.” Torao finally muttered, eyes darting to the side. “I’ll… try.”

 

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Chapter 9: 9

Notes:

Thank you for all of the amazing comments and kudos! You guys make my day and I'm so happy that you were SURPRISED!!!

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The next morning, Luffy woke up first again. He blinked at the brightness of his room a few times before he looked down, the messy head of hair on his chest a quick reminder of what had happened last night. Torao was snoring softly, her arm tightly wound around Luffy’s waist. She was so clingy. Luffy stroked her hair softly, mind swirling with memories of what they had done.

 

He had done naughty things. Things that Zoro and Sanji always talked about. Things that seemed boring and lame before that were definitely anything but. Things that almost seemed like a distant dream. Torao’s mouth must have been magical. How had she made him feel like that? Did he make her feel like that, too? He almost couldn’t believe that he had really done it.

 

The memories caused that strange feeling to happen between his legs again and he stiffened. Luffy then sighed in irritation and pressed his hand over his crotch as his dick began to harden. It was no use. He was already hard. That must have been because he just woke up. But it felt different than it usually did. Where it would sometimes be stiff as soon as he woke up, there was a prominent tingle zinging up his body. And it kept moving. It didn’t used to do that. It must have something to do with what he did last night.

 

Torao shifted slightly, turning her head until her relaxed face was visible to Luffy. He traced her nose softly before hesitantly touching her nose piercing. He traced each side of it curiously, admiring how-

 

Torao suddenly sneezed and Luffy flinched. Her golden eyes blinked slowly at him before a small scowl appeared on her face. 

 

“Morning, you look grumpy.” Luffy said immediately with a grin. Torao muttered to herself before adjusting her body. She curled up against his side and tucked her face against his neck. Luffy felt shivers as she pressed small kisses against his skin, his cock jumping again. Her bare leg moved over his waist, pressing against his erection. She froze slightly before he felt a small chuckle against his neck. Luffy was as stiff as a board.

 

“Morning.” She whispered, her breath fire over his skin. Luffy bit his lip as she purposely rubbed her leg roughly over him. A particularly hard press caused a small whine to leave Luffy’s lips. Torao sucked gently on his neck before removing her leg and quickly replacing it with her hand. 

 

“T-Torao.” Luffy gasped as she cupped him through his shorts. He wanted them gone. 

 

“You’re being so cute.” Torao murmured, sucking his neck a little firmer. She released his skin with a small pop. “How am I supposed to resist you?”

 

Luffy simply sighed in response, torn between the fact that he did not like being called cute but he did like being touched there. Torao’s hand was gentle yet firm. She finally slid it down his shorts and Luffy’s hips twitched as she circled his hot length with her fingers. He felt himself twitching in her grip and thrusted his hips into her hand, letting out a relieved breath. He could just do that a few times-

 

“I want to suck your cock again.” Torao suddenly breathed, tongue tracing the shell of his ear as she slowly pumped him in her hand. Luffy nodded frantically, excited that she wanted to do things again . Torao leaned over him with her usual smirk, lips meeting his in a messy kiss. Luffy’s heart skipped excitedly, surprised that he was really kissing her. It hadn't been a dream. 

 

Their tongues lazily danced for a moment before she pulled away to move down his body, tugging his shorts down roughly. Luffy didn’t have time to think before his entire cock was down her throat. 

 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He shouted, both hands shakily gripping the sheets. Torao was somehow better than yesterday, tongue rubbing against the underside of his shaft as she bobbed her head wildly. She seemed to enjoy it. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were closed. Luffy moved his hands to her hair, tracing one thumb against the underside of her eye, where her dark bags had significantly reduced in size. He thought she was so pretty and so sweet. She made his heart do weird flips and made his stomach feel so weird…

 

One of her hands gently cupped his balls and he came. His body was overwhelmed with warmth and tingles as he thrusted down her throat sporadically, his grip on her hair tight. He slowed his thrusts after a few seconds, letting out a ragged breath. He loved that. 

 

Torao returned to his lips, settling herself in his lap with her knees on either side of his hips. Luffy gripped her waist as he felt her slick heat against his deflating cock. She was so naked. 

 

“Good morning.” She murmured against his mouth, her taste slightly different than before. Luffy swallowed hard before pressing his cock against her. She seemed to move away slightly. “ Slow , Luffy-ya.” She sounded almost amused. Luffy gave her a frustrated look.

 

“I just wanna rub it against you.” He protested. Torao pressed her breasts against his chest with a smirk. 

 

“Oh yeah? Why do you wanna do something like that?”

 

Luffy moved one hand between their bodies, gently touching at her piercing between her folds again. She shivered and slumped against him immediately and Luffy realized that she was just all words . She was such a tease. 

 

He traced his fingers between her folds before rubbing circles against that spot beneath her piercing. She trembled on top of him, short gasps escaping her lips. 

 

“How d-do you keep finding my clit?” She gasped, hips jerking. “ Fuck.”

 

Luffy’s lips turned up in a smile as he rubbed her slowly. She was so wet. Was it always wet like that? He hadn’t noticed last night because he had licked all over her. 

 

Luffy’s mouth watered as he remembered the taste of her and gently pushed her off of him. He definitely wanted that again. 

 

She let him push her onto her back, her knees bending slightly. Luffy bit down on her inner thigh before burying his face between her legs. He sloppily slid his tongue between her folds immediately, earning those loud noises again. He used his fingers to spread her apart so that he could assault her favorite spot more easily. Torao’s hips trembled in his grip as he suckled her clit slowly, eyes moving up her body to stare at her face. Her hands cradled the back of his head as if she were making sure he didn’t move away. He thought it was unnecessary. 

 

He raked his eyes over her face. She was gone. He could tell. Her face was screwed up in complete pleasure, her lips parted. Luffy did that to her. A swell of pride flooded his chest and he boldly slid his tongue down to that hole he had wanted to touch last night. He dipped into it to gather the wetness, feeling her clench around his tongue slightly. 

 

“L-Luffy-ya.” Torao was tugging his hair roughly, pressing his face even closer to her pussy. Luffy hummed in confusion. What did she want? He was already sucking her. “F-fingers.” She moaned. 

 

Luffy didn’t need to be told twice. He slid his fingers against her, gently feeling for the entrance. He felt a surge of excitement. Was she going to let him in? She wasn’t resisting… Luffy’s cock was painfully hard again and he adjusted himself so it wasn’t pressing into the mattress uncomfortably anymore.

 

He found the spot and gently pressed one finger against her. Torao stiffened before letting out a huff of air. Luffy held still before applying a little more pressure. His finger slid inside of her slowly, encompassing him with a tight warmth he hadn’t ever felt before. He watched Torao’s face as his finger entered her, grinning as her mouth dropped open and her moans turned frantic. He pressed his finger further inside, admiring that warmth and tightness. He wiggled his finger around and continued to lick all over her pussy. It was so snug inside. He couldn’t get it very deep.

 

“Move.” Torao breathed desperately. “Please.”

 

“It’s too tight.” Luffy muttered, creasing his eyebrows. He pulled his finger out and tried to force it back in, but she was clenching too tight. He managed to wriggle it back inside. Torao screamed loudly, causing him to wince at the volume of her voice. It was the morning. She shouldn’t do that. 

 

Her back arched and she frantically gripped his wrist. She forced his finger deeper inside of her and Luffy could only watch as she trembled hard and rode his hand through her climax, her body fluttering around him in a way that was painful. When she slumped back, exhausted, Luffy removed his finger and flexed it with a wince. He stared up at her for a few moments, watching her catch her breath. His eyes moved down to the spot between her legs, curiously inspecting her. He could see her clearly with the sunlight streaming through his window and he could stare at her and never get bored.

 

“You’re so pretty.” He murmured blankly, tracing one of the abstract tattoos lining her thigh. And it was true. Luffy had been around many different people and had seen all different shapes and sizes of women and none of them compared to how pretty Torao was.

 

Torao laughed breathlessly, bending her knees and sitting up slowly. Luffy followed her, unable to tear his eyes away from her beautiful tattoos.

 

“Shut up.” She muttered. Luffy looked at her red face and couldn’t help but grin.

 

“What? You get to call me cute and I can’t say that you’re pretty?”

 

Torao tried to glare at him. “No. You can’t.” 

 

He then heard her stomach growl. 

 

“You’re hungry!” Luffy shouted, scrambling up from the bed. He didn’t think as he lifted her up into his arms. She immediately squirmed in protest, grumbling about something. But Luffy had one goal and that was to feed her. He nearly got them out of the door before Torao pressed both of her tattooed hands against the wood before he could open it all the way, causing it to slam loudly. 

 

“Clothes!” Torao hissed. “We need clothes!”

 

Luffy laughed excitedly, his own stomach churning with anticipation of eating. He let Torao down onto the floor, where she gave him another angry scowl. She turned away from him to bend over and retrieve her clothes that were strewn across the floor. Luffy’s eyes widened as he noticed even more tattoos covering her back and the backs of her thighs. He found himself staring as she pulled back on her black lace bra. She scoffed at her shirt and tossed it back onto the bed before turning to face Luffy. 

 

“It has wine all over it.” She told him. She gazed into Luffy’s empty closet with a blank look that felt very judgemental.

 

“Can I borrow some more sweatpants?” She asked. “I left the other ones at my place.”

 

Luffy nodded and grinned widely as he bounded over to his dresser. He hummed as he sorted through his clothes, pulling out a pair of sleep pants that hadn’t fit him in a few years. He tossed them over to her, which she grabbed with a grumble mid-air. She seemed so grumpy today and Luffy found it so cute. 

 

Luffy pulled on his shirt from last night and his own pair of clean sweatpants before approaching the glaring woman. She glared at him as she adjusted her waistline and Luffy couldn’t help but grin and boldly raise himself on his toes slightly to kiss her on her pouting lips. 

 

“Let’s get breakfast.” He murmured, causing her cheeks to flush a deep red. 

 

“Fine.” She agreed in a low voice. “But I’m not making it this time.”

 

“You need a shirt? I can get one from Zoro.” Luffy tugged at the corner of the lacy fabric covering one of her breasts. She swatted his hand away. 

 

“No, it’s hot in here. I'm always so hot after I drink. I need coffee and some sort of protein now or things will get bad.”

 

Luffy led the grumpy woman to the kitchen, a skip in his step. He grinned widely at Zoro, who was eyeing them suspiciously, and Sanji, who immediately got a nosebleed upon seeing Torao’s state of dress. 

 

Torao walked right over to the coffee maker and began brewing it herself, all while muttering under her breath. Luffy peered around Sanji to see what he was cooking. Sanji swatted his hands away. He then peered around Torao to help her with the coffee, reaching for the buttons. She also swatted his hands away. Luffy pouted and slumped into the chair next to Zoro. 

 

“Luffy.” Zoro said in a low voice. “What’s going on? She livin’ here now?”

 

“Torao’s power was out and she’s scared of the dark.” Luffy whispered loudly, earning a glare from said woman. He ignored it. “So I am letting her stay over until it’s back.”

 

“Well, while I am happy that you’ve, um…” Zoro trailed off, eyes darting to Sanji. “Cook, you mind givin’ us a minute?”

 

Sanji slammed down the spatula and spun around. “What the fuck did you say, mosshead?! What could you possibly need to say that I can’t hear?!”

 

Torao leaned her head down onto her arms as the coffee brewed slowly. 

 

“I just need to have a word with Luffy.” Zoro said between clenched teeth. “The chick ain’t listening, so that doesn’t matter to me. But you bother me.”

 

Sanji put his hands on his hip. “Just spit it out.”

 

Luffy looked between his friends curiously, eyes stopping to examine Torao’s tattooed back each time. The lace looked so pretty on her pale skin. 

 

“If you’re trying to give Luffy-ya ‘the talk’, let me leave first.” Torao muttered. Luffy looked at Zoro again, lips parted. Zoro simply put his face into his hands and Sanji turned back around to finish cooking. Luffy assumed the conversation was successfully avoided and grinned. 

 

Torao moved to Luffy’s side a few minutes later, a large white mug of steaming coffee grasped between her dainty hands. She leaned against his side as she took a large drink. 

 

“Hey, Torao, wanna play the game today?” Luffy asked, looking up at her. She gave a single nod without pausing her drink. Luffy grinned wider. 

 

Sanji served breakfast in the form of eggs scrambled with spinach, much to Luffy’s distaste, alongside grilled fish and dark slices of bread. Luffy lifted the bread to peer at it suspiciously. Usually darker foods were “healthy” and he didn’t really like that. And what was with the fish? Luffy was hungry after last night and that morning. He needed a fat steak or a burger or something. There wasn’t even enough food there! 

 

“I need to go to the store.” Sanji muttered. “We used more food than I thought we would last night.”

 

Sanji also set a plate in front of Torao and she raised an eyebrow. 

 

Zoro’s plate was quite messy and ugly. He apparently didn’t care, as he immediately began scarfing it down. 

 

“A lovely breakfast for a lovely woman.” Sanji was saying to Torao. His nose was bleeding again. “Full of protein and nutrients to keep your body beautiful. And… um…”

 

Sanji cut off when he processed the death glare that Torao was giving him. 

 

“You treat all women like shit like that?” She asked, setting her cup down hard. Sanji widened his eyes. 

 

“No! On the contrary, I am simply treating a pretty lady as she deserves to be treated. With care and finesse!”

 

Torao scoffed in a very unladylike way. “Fuck off with that bullshit. Thanks for the food.”

 

Zoro snorted so hard he almost choked on his eggs. Sanji turned his anger to Zoro and they began bickering loudly. Luffy gave Torao an annoyed look and pushed her away from his eating arm. How was he supposed to eat when she was clinging to him?

 

Luffy watched as she climbed into the chair adjacent to him. His eyes settled on her breasts for some reason, as he really liked the fabric of her bra shirt thing. He could kind of see her nipple piercings through it. 

 

He shot Sanji a suspicious look. Did that mean Sanji could see them? Did Torao want Sanji to see them? She seemed to hate him a lot. 

 

What about Zoro? Would he look at her nipples, too? Zoro was a guy, after all, and he was always sleeping with people. Did he want to sleep with Torao?

 

But how did that work? If Torao slept with Luffy for two nights, didn’t that mean they were going to get married or something? Zoro said he never slept with the same person for more than one night. Even then, they never stayed the whole night. 

 

Luffy wondered if “sleeping together” was a euphemism for something else. Maybe the naughty things. 

 

Luffy shook his head and blinked his eyes a few times. Torao was smirking at him as she skillfully pushed the food around her plate. Her bread had somehow been relocated to Luffy’s plate as well.

 

“You sure are thinking a lot.” She murmured. “Something on your mind?”

 

“I can see your nipples.” He blurted. Zoro choked on his food and Sanji bled all over the table. Torao raised an eyebrow and ignored his friends. 

 

“So? They’re just nipples.”

 

Luffy didn’t know what to say to that. So he shrugged and kept eating. She was right, after all.

 

Torao smirked and placed her elbows on the table to support her coffee cup. She had abandoned her food completely, not a single bite taken. Luffy chewed slower before narrowing his eyes at her. 

 

“Torao, you need to eat your proteins and vegetables.” He told her. Torao raised an eyebrow at him. 

 

“Speak for yourself, Luffy-ya.” She countered. Luffy set down his fork. 

 

“I did.” He gestured to his own plate. “You have to, too.”

 

Torao frowned slightly. “You just eat entirely too much.”

 

“You have no idea.” Zoro muttered. “We are banned from several buffets because of him.”

 

“Oh, really? I’m surprised his keyboard is so clean, because he always seems to be eating when we play.”

 

“Sanji makes me a lot of snacks because I get really hungry.” Luffy said, pulling Torao’s plate toward him. He took a large bite and immediately received a hit in the arm from Zoro. Torao smiled in a way that made Luffy’s chest constrict weirdly. 

 

After she finished her second mug of coffee, Torao excused herself to the restroom. Zoro immediately turned to Luffy with his arms crossed. 

 

“That girl is an asshole.” He told him. Luffy snickered. 

 

“She’s weird, right?”

 

“Those are not synonyms, Luffy. She’s blunt and kind of rude.”

 

“She has hickies all over her beautiful skin.” Sanji muttered. “Luffy is a fucking monkey.”

 

“Zoro.” Luffy swallowed, stomach feeling heavy with worry. “I slept with Torao twice, does that mean I’m safe?”

 

Zoro frowned at him as Sanji choked on his coffee. “Safe? What do you mean?”

 

Luffy made a face. “You said you don’t sleep with people multiple times because you’d have to get married at that point. I’m safe from Torao marrying someone else then, right?”

 

“Luffy. What the fuck?”

 

“More like, why are you listening to Mosshead’s shitty advice?” Sanji muttered.

 

“I don’t even care about that.” Luffy grumbled. “I just want to hang out with her. But I don’t want other people looking at her nipples.”

 

“Ask her out, then.” Zoro murmured after a pause. “If you like her like that. She obviously likes you. See if she’ll let you take her on a date. She seems expensive, though.”

 

“I just wanna play the game.” Luffy groaned. Why was everything getting so complicated?

 

“Well, sometimes chicks like that are content with fucking around.” Zoro said as Torao returned behind him. Luffy widened his eyes. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. You always love people too much.”

 

“Zoro, stop being embarrassing.” Luffy felt his cheeks flushing. Torao grinned and walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. 

 

“Are you embarrassed, Luffy-ya?” She breathed in his ear. “Didn’t you tell your friends that I already asked you out on a date?”

 

“Torao.” Luffy pushed her away, feeling annoyed that she was being so embarrassing again. She grinned wider and held him tighter. Luffy wriggled violently, so embarrassed. Torao held on, which caused the chair to topple over from underneath them. Luffy slipped forward immediately at the same moment that Torao widened her eyes. Zoro gripped the back of Luffy’s shirt and yanked hard, trying to help but ultimately causing Luffy’s face to smash into the counter. Luffy immediately felt weirdly numb and spit out blood and a small piece of his tooth before glaring angrily at everyone in the room. 

 

“Oh fuck, Luffy-ya, are you okay?” Torao was suddenly in front of him, tilting his head back. Sanji burst out laughing and Luffy scowled as his eyes pricked. That had hurt. 

 

“Way to go.” Luffy muttered, feeling his words lisping. “Now all I tasthe ith blood! I can’t even tasthe my food!”

 

“You broke your tooth.” Torao started being weird and stuck her fingers in his mouth. Luffy felt weirdly violated. 

 

“Can you fith it?” Luffy wiggled his tongue around, trying to press against the broken piece. His entire mouth felt numb. Torao retracted her fingers with a sharp sigh. 

 

“I mean, I can try to fix it.” She muttered, tsking softly. “I don’t really do this kind of thing… I really hope there isn’t nerve damage…”

 

“What, just tack some glue on there and stick it back.” Sanji suggested. Torao scowled at him. 

 

“Glue is soluble in water, idiot. Come on, Luffy-ya. I’ll take you to my office.”

 

“Office?!” Sanji demanded. “What the fuck? Are you a dentist?”

 

“I’m an oral surgeon.” Torao snapped. “What’s it fucking matter to you?”

 

“Of course Luffy gets a fucking doctor.” Sanji muttered as he grabbed a container of antibacterial wipes to clean the blood. Luffy swallowed a mouthful of blood and made a face. Torao rolled her eyes and grabbed a napkin from the kitchen island to wipe his face and lips.

 

“Get an ice pack.” She said to Zoro. “Or a bag of peas. Something. ”

 

Luffy flinched when a cold pack of vegetables was suddenly pressed to his face.

 

“Can I borrow a shirt?” Torao muttered to Zoro. He stared at Luffy sadly before disappearing to his room. Sanji finished cleaning up and sighed deeply. Luffy stuck his tongue out to lick the pack of vegetables, stomach churning with unsatiated hunger. What bad luck. 

 

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Chapter 10: 10

Notes:

You ask and you shall receive

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Zoro looked completely guilty and miserable the entire journey to Torao’s office. Luffy shot him wide, reassuring smiles that must have come across as scary because Zoro looked even worse each time he did it. 

 

Torao drove them downtown, after they all got dressed, in her fancy black car. Luffy had immediately called ‘shotgun’ and climbed into the car, red drool dripping onto her center console which had made her scowl in a very scary way. She had then forced Luffy to hold a small towel over the vegetables against his face so he didn’t drop blood anywhere else. 

 

Sanji stayed at the apartment but Zoro tagged along, and surprisingly, Chopper did as well. He had come out of his room frantically because of all of the noise and immediately began freaking out because of the blood on Luffy’s face. 

 

The young man was now bouncing excitedly and gazing out the window, spouting off facts about dentists and teeth and had Torao smirking. Chopper kept shooting Luffy sad looks. Zoro wallowed in his guilt and Luffy poked fun at him the entire time. 

 

“You can buy me thome stheaks and I’ll forgive you.” He said. “About thwenty will do.”

 

“Yeah, okay, Luffy.” Zoro muttered, letting out a sigh as he looked out the window. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“Now we get to see Torao’s office!” Chopper said excitedly, shaking Zoro’s arm. “I’m so excited!”

 

“You don’t even wanth to be a nerd dentist.” Luffy said, looking back at the young man. 

 

“Wow.” Torao remarked. 

 

“Dentists are pretty cool.” Chopper said, stars in his eyes. “Did you know that…”

 

Luffy stopped listening. He tongued the new sharp edge on his front tooth lazily, wondering what it looked like. He also wondered if the visit would take too long. He wanted to play his game. He wanted to eat . 

 

Torao parked in front of a gray office that resembled a house that was taking up the entire corner of a block downtown. Chopper continued to spout off facts and tidbits about teeth as they walked up the creaky wooden ramp to the entrance. Torao unlocked the door with a key and pushed it open, causing a small beeping to start. Luffy walked inside slowly, the strong smell of disinfectant immediately assaulting his nose. He read the printed characters on the glass door with mild interest. Torao’s name was longer than he thought. He wondered what the D stood for. 

 

“Oh my god, her name is Trafalgar!” Chopper cried suddenly. “I’ve been calling her the wrong name! Thanks a lot, Luffy!”

 

Zoro looked around the dark lobby with a frown. “Damn, you really are a dentist, aren’t you?”

 

“I’m a surgeon.” Torao said flatly, flicking on the lights. “I don’t even know if I have any composite material here.” She disappeared through a doorway with Zoro trailing behind her.

 

Luffy approached the fancy-looking black chairs and sat down. They were so uncomfortable. He shifted himself back and forth, the crinkling leather making loud noises underneath him. For some reason, his heart was beating super fast and he didn’t know why. Something about the office… It smelled like somewhere he didn’t want to be. 

 

It reminded him of a hospital, he realized. 

 

He felt a spike of anxiety and swallowed more bloody saliva. Dentists weren’t the same as doctors. He wasn’t in the same place. He needed to calm down.

 

Chopper sat next to him, hand already gripping Luffy’s. “It’s okay to feel anxious.” Chopper whispered immediately. “Going to the dentist used to scare me. But if you floss, they aren’t scary places.”

 

Luffy was glad that he had flossed the day before, then, at least. He relaxed his grip on his vegetable pack and let out a sigh.

 

“It smells like…” He started, swallowing again. “Like the emergency room.”

 

Chopper was quiet but continued to hold Luffy’s hand. Luffy steadied his breath before standing up and approaching the front desk. The marble counters were cold against his arm as he tried to reach for a chocolate bar that he saw tucked underneath one of the computer monitors.

 

Torao returned with a scowl and tugged him back by his shirt. “Come on.” She muttered. “I found some material.”

 

The entire visit was super boring. Luffy looked at the white tiles on the ceiling the entire time that Torao drilled and poked his mouth. He nearly drowned several times but got into the habit of swallowing instead. Chopper watched closely with excitement, leaning so close that Torao had to glare at him until he moved back. He kept doing it over and over again so Torao eventually made him hold the little suction tube to “at least help if he was going to be nosy and in the way”. You would have thought that Torao gave him a gift.

 

“What’s that?!” Chopper asked excitedly as Torao held up a syringe. 

 

“Articaine.” Torao responded emotionlessly before injecting Luffy without warning. Luffy jumped slightly in surprise at the sting. “I need to pack some cord, and it isn't very comfortable without anesthetic.”

 

Luffy’s mouth felt very weird after that. He wished he could see what Torao was doing. He eventually closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep at least. Torao was incredibly gentle as she touched him, her fingers deft and experienced. 

 

“That should hold.” She eventually murmured, pulling her fancy nerd glasses with the light down to hang around her neck. She then smirked. “When’s the last time you went to the dentist, Luffy-ya?”

 

Luffy pursed his lips and crossed his ankles, looking up at her. “Dunno. Maybe when I was a kid. Gramps never took us.”

 

“I’m surprised. You have super clean teeth. All the blood from yesterday morning really concerned me.”

 

“Can we go play the game now?” Luffy jumped up before Torao could lean the chair up all the way. “Gimme a mirror. I wanna see what you did to me.”

 

Torao handed him a mirror that looked like a tooth. Luffy grinned at himself before deflating in disappointment. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Torao asked immediately. Luffy examined the tooth again. 

 

“It looks just like it did before. That’s lame.” He muttered. Torao ripped the mirror from his hands. 

 

“That’s the point.” She snapped. “It’s supposed to look the same.”

 

“You wouldn’t want it to look weird.” Chopper said from his spot in the corner of the room. He was flipping a picture book. “Dentistry is an art. Look how pretty it is!” 

 

“You’re pretty smart, Tony-ya.” Torao said as she ripped the plastic off of the chair where Luffy had been sitting. “You want to get some observation hours here?”

 

Chopper gasped excitedly. “For reals?! You’ll let me watch you rip people’s teeth out?!”

 

Torao shrugged. “Sure. Shadowing is very important when it comes to applications. Especially when you apply for UGLS. Not to mention that I could benefit from some free labor.”

 

Chopper began to cheer about finding volunteer hours and Torao removed her gloves to pinch the bridge of her nose. 

 

“Looks good, Luffy.” Zoro said from the doorway. “Back to normal.”

 

“Thanks, Zoro!” Luffy grinned at his friend. “I can barely taste the blood!”

 

Zoro offered a hesitant smile. That was good. Luffy didn’t want him being all mopey still.

 

Luffy found the employee break room while Torao and Chopper cleaned up after the procedure. He munched on some beef jerky and chocolate candies slowly as he looked at a pinboard on the wall that was covered in photographs. Many of the photos featured Torao in nerdy work clothes doing many different nerdy things with other nerd people. She never smiled and never looked happy, which caused him to snicker. He got to see her making those certain faces and no one else did. He liked that fact.

 

His attention was caught by a particular photo where she was smirking between two guys with strange hats on. He stepped closer to examine it thoroughly. 

 

“Those are my friends who developed the game.” Torao’s voice said from behind him. “Also, that’s Ikakku’s beef jerky.”

 

Luffy chewed thoughtfully. He turned his head to eye the woman next to him. She watched him in return, her golden eyes almost green in the light. 

 

“Thanks for fixing my tooth.” Luffy finally said. “Was this a date?”

 

Torao smirked. “You don’t usually bring friends on a date, but I mean, we can count it as one.”

 

Luffy grinned. “Cool. My first date. Needs better food.”

 

Torao rolled her eyes. “What, you’re still hungry? I’ll buy you some food. C’mon. Let’s get out of here.” 

 

But instead of stepping out of the room, she stepped closer to Luffy. He swallowed his mouthful of jerky and looked up slightly at her in confusion. She fisted up the front of his shirt to pull him even closer. Then, she kissed him. 

 

“You taste like meat.” She muttered against his mouth. But she didn’t stop kissing him. 

 

Luffy felt his heart beating wildly as they deepened the kiss. He dropped the bag of jerky on the floor and placed his hands on the small of Torao’s back, yanking her flush against his chest. She was so tall. Was that weird? Wasn’t he supposed to be taller than her? Well, she wasn’t that much taller but…

 

Luffy bit her lower lip, causing her to gasp softly. She pulled back from the kiss and gave him a crazed look, though they remained pressed closely together. 

 

“Be careful with that.” Torao told him, one finger gently resting against his lip. “Anterior composites usually never last. And judging by how much you eat, I anticipate needing to fix that frequently.”

 

Luffy’s stomach growled in response to that. Torao rolled her eyes, but her grin made it look unserious. Luffy thought that she looked pretty when she smiled.

 

He finished the bag of beef jerky and chocolates, much to the dismay of Torao. Chopper made Luffy open his mouth so he could examine his fixed tooth while Torao locked up the office. 

 

“She’s like magic.” Chopper breathed. Luffy felt him touch his tooth. Torao tsked immediately. 

 

“Don’t put your fingers in his mouth. Honestly, I can’t believe I had to say that.”

 

“You’ll get used to the closeness of this group.” Zoro said with a grin. “The sharing of backwash and saliva-covered foods used to disgust me, but you learn to live with it.”

 

Torao made a face. Chopper released Luffy’s mouth. 

 

They walked down the street toward Torao’s car, Chopper and Luffy jumping around excitedly. Zoro walked slowly behind the group, observing the strangers around them in the way that he usually did. 

 

Torao suddenly stopped walking and pointed to a building across the street. “We can get food there.”

 

“Food!” Luffy said excitedly, gazing at the illuminated sign. The restaurant was uncleverly named Onigiri and the ‘O’ had two devil horns sticking off of it that Luffy didn’t understand. Chopper made an amazed noise. 

 

“I love onigiri! Is that an entire restaurant devoted to it?!” Chopper gripped Torao’s arm and wiggled it excitedly. 

 

“It is.” Torao did not express the same excitement as Chopper. 

 

The restaurant was pretty small but it smelled amazing. Luffy nearly pressed his face against the glass display, but Torao gripped the back of his shirt before he could do it and held him at a safe distance. 

 

“Oh, good morning, Dr. Trafalgar.” An elderly woman said as she noticed them, placing a sudoku book on the cash register. “What a surprise. I thought you only worked on Mondays and Thursdays and Fridays.”

 

“I do, you are correct.” Torao said. “We were in the area. I brought you some hungry customers.”

 

The lady smiled warmly. “It’s always nice to see you with friends. You’re usually so lonely.”

 

Luffy frowned at that and Torao accepted a menu from the woman. 

 

Torao asked everyone’s preferences except Luffy before ordering a ridiculous amount of food. They sat on the rickety bar stools as they waited for it to finish being prepared. Luffy pressed his cheek to the cold table and groaned softly. He was going to die if he didn’t eat soon. 

 

Torao ran her fingers through his hair in a gesture that must have been too intimate, because Zoro and Chopper averted their eyes immediately. Luffy closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her fingers on his scalp. 

 

An hour later, they were back at Luffy’s apartment. 

 

Luffy washed his hands at Torao’s direction before sitting patiently at the kitchen island. Torao plated each fat onigiri gently so they wouldn’t fall apart. Chopper got two, Zoro got two, and Luffy got five. Luffy widened his eyes at Torao’s own plate, which had three large rice balls on it. 

 

“There’s no way you’re gonna eat that all.” Luffy said to her. She took her spot next to him and gave him an amused look. 

 

“Your greed knows no bounds. Are you really eyeing my food already? I gave you five. I even have six more in that box. You’re an expensive date, Luffy-ya.”

 

Luffy flushed slightly. He knew she was teasing, but…

 

Torao ate every single grain of rice on her plate. Luffy was beyond happy to watch her eat something. He knew that some people were naturally skinny, just like some people were naturally fat, but he didn’t like the combination of her being skinny with her lack of eating anything. He wondered if she was sick. Maybe he would ask her later. 

 

Torao ate a fourth onigiri and Luffy grinned at her, pride swelling in his chest. 

 

“It’s really the only food I ever want to eat.” She admitted. “I wish I could make them at home.”

 

Luffy decided he would ask Sanji how to make them. 

 

Chopper retired to his room with Torao in tow, something about his school application. Luffy munched on his seventh onigiri slowly, eyeing the remaining four in the box. He decided to save them for Torao for dinner. And then for second dinner, he would have Sanji make some. 

 

Zoro piled up the used dishes and took them to the sink. “We better clean up before ero-cook throws a fit about us using the kitchen.” He muttered. Luffy chuckled and closed the box of food. He put it into the fridge and turned to see Zoro gaping at him. 

 

“What?” He asked. Zoro shook his head and turned on the faucet. 

 

“Nothing. Never thought I’d see the day where you put leftovers in the fridge. Special occasion?”

 

Luffy frowned as he threw away some trash. “Torao doesn’t eat very good. But she likes those. I want her to eat them later.”

 

“I see. So she doesn’t sleep good or eat good. You know, Luffy, you can’t fix people.”

 

“Huh? I don’t want to fix her. I just want to help make things easier. She sleeps like a clingy weirdo with me, so she will sleep with me. She eats five onigiri and zero tacos or pancakes, so we will eat onigiri.”

 

Zoro hummed. “That’s surprisingly thoughtful. You really like her, huh? Man, I’m so surprised. I did not expect Torao to be a girl and I definitely did not expect you to take romantic interest in her.”

 

Luffy positioned himself on the counter with a thoughtful hum, crossing his ankles and kicking his sandals onto the floor. Is that what he felt? Romantics? What did that even mean?

 

Luffy didn’t know why he felt the way he did. He liked Torao because she was fun to hang out with. She was grumpy but it was really entertaining to him. His stomach felt weird around her, as did his dick, but he assumed that it was due to Torao touching it.

 

Even thinking about it made him feel weird. 

 

Luffy realized Zoro was watching him, waiting for a response, so he uncrossed his legs.

 

“She makes my heart feel all weird. And makes my stomach feel like it’s full of beetles. And she makes my…” Luffy broke off. He probably shouldn’t say that last part. 

 

“I’m going to ignore that.” Zoro said, shaking his head with a slight eye roll. “That last part didn’t happen.”

 

“What, Zoro? You know I don’t have experience with this stuff. I didn’t even know it could get hard from people!”

 

“Luffy, shut the fuck up about your dick.” Zoro then pointed at him sternly. “Regardless of what happens, wear a condom .”

 

“Oh, Torao asked for one of those. And you mentioned it yesterday. What is it? Do you have any?”

 

Zoro seemed relieved. “Okay, I’m glad that the good doctor is smart.”

 

“Torao isn’t that smart.” Luffy muttered. Zoro turned off the faucet. 

 

“Doctors are usually pretty smart.” He said. “Dentists, I don’t know.”

 

Luffy looked toward the hallway. He wanted Torao to hang out with him, not Chopper. 

 

“Cmon, Luffy. Wanna play the game with me?” Zoro asked, noticing his mood change. Luffy suddenly grinned in delight. 

 

“You wanna play with me?! Okay!”

 

Zoro and Luffy managed to get to level three on brand new characters before Torao returned from Chopper’s room. Luffy grinned at her excitedly, a gesture she mostly returned before retrieving her own laptop from her bag that was still next to the sofa from the first night. Torao set up her computer next to them before crowding Luffy’s space. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. His body burned where she touched him and he found that he liked it.

 

“A priest, I’m impressed.” She murmured. “Finally you play something good- what the fuck is that name, Luffy-ya?”

 

Luffy smirked and Zoro cackled. “Zoro told me to do it.”

 

Deathcums was deleted immediately. 

 

They started all over, again, this time with Torao joining them. Luffy made a monk and named it Gumgum. Torao, surprisingly, did not make a priest, and instead made a warlock which she named Deathcômes. 

 

“It’s an inside joke.” She explained. “I don’t particularly like the name. But Shachi hates it, so I keep doing it.”

 

“Is that your boyfriend?” Luffy blurted. Torao gave him a blank look as Zoro cackled again. 

 

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend, Luffy-ya. What the fuck?”

 

“Luffy, you gotta ask her to be your girlfriend.” Zoro whispered loudly. Luffy opened his mouth and hesitated. He just asked? That was it?

 

“It doesn’t matter.” Torao said quickly, looking uncomfortable. “We’re dating. You don’t really need to label it beyond that.”

 

Luffy slammed his hands on the table. “I want to! I’m your boyfriend, Torao!”

 

“Luffy…” Zoro muttered in disapproval. “I don’t think-”

 

But Torao was flushing and had her lips pressed tightly together as she was suddenly more interested in the game. Zoro widened his eyes in disbelief. 

 

“Yeah, alright.” Torao muttered in a very girly way.

 

Sanji joined them a few hours later, harboring several large boxes as he opened the apartment door. The smell of food immediately overwhelmed the apartment. 

 

“Oh, beautiful- I mean, regular - looking Law.” Sanji set the food down on the counter. “A shame to see you dressed.”

 

“Watch out, shitty cook.” Zoro said, smirking. “That’s Luffy’s girlfriend you’re hitting on.”

 

“Are you kidding? Congrats, Luffy! I mean…” 

 

He suddenly looked worried as he stared at Torao. She looked up, a scowl on her face. “What? Gonna say something?”

 

Sanji chewed his lip. “Well, I just worry that you’re a little scary for my friend’s first time here. He’s never dated before.”

 

“And? He’s not stupid. Luffy-ya can do whatever he wants.” 

 

Luffy’s heart swelled in a strange way because that was right. He could do whatever he wanted and he would! Luffy never wanted to do anything boring and never did anything he didn’t want to do. When he put his mind to things, they got done.

 

He really liked the fact that Torao recognized that. 

 

Luffy chewed his lip anxiously as Sanji commanded Zoro to help him put the groceries away. He bounced his knee and tried to ignore how he felt and how those words that Torao had said had affected him. No matter what he did, he couldn’t forget them. Torao recognized that he would only ever do what he wanted to do and he liked that.

 

Sanji was bickering lightly with Torao when Luffy suddenly stood up. His pants had grown uncomfortably tight and his stomach was so tickly. He might have had to pee. 

 

“You okay, buddy?” Zoro asked with concern. Luffy gave him a frantic look and darted to the bathroom without a word, nearly toppling over his chair. He ignored the irritating yelling from Sanji.

 

No matter how much cold water he splashed on his face, his cock would not soften. It pulsed tauntingly and hung heavily between his legs. Luffy had even tried splashing cold water on it too, but it was no use. He stayed like that, with his shorts around his ankles and his legs spread, for over fifteen minutes. The memories of Torao’s words bounced around his head tauntingly. Luffy-ya can do whatever he wants. 

 

There was finally a soft knock on the door and Luffy sucked in a ragged breath as he yanked up his shorts. 

 

“Yeah?” He asked, voice thick with emotion.

 

“Are you alright, Luffy-ya?” It was Torao. Her voice seemed to make his problem even worse. He remembered her hot mouth on him and groaned in discomfort. 

 

“N-no, I need a minute.” He muttered. He slid his hand down his shorts and gripped the base of his cock roughly. He let out a breath at the slight relief. He just needed to touch it, like Torao had. 

 

But his hand was clumsy and it wasn’t sliding so well.

 

“It’s been a while, do you need anything?” Torao asked after around three minutes. Had she been waiting there the entire time?

 

Luffy bit his lip. He did need something. 

 

Torao did not take his silence well and jiggled the door handle. Luffy sighed and unlocked it before stepping back. She immediately entered the restroom and shut the door behind her, placing her hands on her hips. 

 

“What are you doing? You left me out there with the creepy chef and your confused friend.” Her sharp eyes examined him.

 

“It won’t stop.” Luffy admitted. Torao widened her eyes as she noticed that Luffy had his hand down his shorts. She met his eyes with a mischievous glint in hers.

 

Just like that, she was a predator. 

 

“What turned you on, I wonder.” She purred, stepping closer. He stepped back worriedly, the backs of his calves hitting the edge of the tub. Torao gently placed a hand against his chest and pushed him down to sit. 

 

“Wanna try something?” She breathed, her lips immediately claiming his in a hot kiss. Luffy grunted softly as she eased down his shorts. 

 

“B-but…” He broke off in a moan as she pulled back from the kiss to let spit drop onto his weeping dick. Any concern for his friends in the other room died when her saliva coated him.

 

“Look at that.” She whispered, her perfectly manicured fingers wrapping around his length. Her hand was small and managed to leave part of his cock unwrapped, but it still felt amazing. Luffy flinched at her warm touch, a low moan leaving his throat. That was how he needed to grab it. And he could have spit on it the whole time?!

 

Torao shushed him and pumped her hand a few times, earning a louder, broken moan from his lips. He could only watch in amazement as she skillfully pulled back his foreskin with each pump while her thumb skated over his glistening head. He watched liquid pool from the slit with each pump of her fist and she simply swiped it away, rubbing it into his skin. Luffy did not realize that he was making noise until Torao met his eyes. 

 

“Gotta be quiet.” She breathed, her lips sloppily claiming his again. Luffy felt as though he was going to fly the faster her hand moved. She was stroking him so good. It was slick and wet, the combination of his precome and her saliva an amazing lubricant. The noise was lewd and seemed to echo around the small bathroom. But what was louder, the wet sounds of her hand on his dick or her sloppy mouth as she slid her tongue all over his teeth? 

 

Luffy wanted more. Why weren’t her hands bigger? Should he ask her to put it in her mouth again?

 

Torao released his lips with a loud pop, seemingly reaching the same conclusion. “Wanna try something else?” She asked. Luffy blinked at her and looked down. She was still gripping him tightly. 

 

“Like what?” He asked curiously, willing his heart to slow down. Torao released her grip on him and pulled back slightly. She tugged off her borrowed shirt and immediately discarded her bra. Then she did something weird but… Luffy gripped the edge of the tub in surprise. 

 

Torao had nestled his hard cock between her hot breasts. It would have been a funny image if it didn’t feel so warm. She was pushing her breasts together tightly, something that caused Luffy to drool in admiration. How had he never noticed how plump her breasts were before that moment?

 

“Move your hips.” Torao whispered, and Luffy thrusted forward wildly. “Like that, good.”

 

“Oh, my god.” Luffy grunted, thrusting faster between her breasts as she held them close together. “That feels so good. It’s so soft.”

 

And it was. His cock continuously pushed out thick beads of that whitish liquid, making it so unbelievably wet. The slide on her soft breasts was unlike anything he had felt. And the view of her cute body, especially those piercings…

 

Torao chuckled, tilting her chin down to tongue at the head of his cock each time it peeked between her breasts. Luffy couldn’t stop watching her. She was so pretty and clean and-

 

Luffy came all over her face suddenly, biting his hand roughly to muffle his noises. Torao immediately ripped his hand out of his mouth, protesting about his filling, as Luffy’s white release splattered her cheeks and breasts. She quickly wrapped her fingers around him again to pump him through his orgasm, an amused smirk on her lips. Luffy was too far gone to care what had happened. 

 

“Oh, it’s so fun, you’re so inexperienced.” She cooed, capturing his lips again. Luffy didn’t even care what she was saying or that he was probably consuming his own semen. Her lips were addicting. 

 

Luffy felt immense relief immediately. His cock was still hard, but he felt as though he had a burden removed from his shoulders. Torao grabbed a gray towel from the nearby shelf to clean her face and her breasts. She then pulled her borrowed shirt back on, foregoing her bra completely. Luffy could see the points of her piercings through her shirt and reached out to touch them softly. His head swam and he blinked slowly, trying to steady himself. It had felt good. 

 

When they returned to the kitchen after discarding the towel and her bra in Luffy’s laundry basket, Sanji was plating different kinds of food, including the rice balls from earlier. He hummed as he set the plate in front of Torao’s computer. She gave Luffy a suspicious scowl but immediately lifted an onigiri to her lips. 

 

Luffy ate his fill of meat that Sanji brought home, grinning widely with each tender bite. Sanji was such a good cook. It was amazing. Luffy loved that day. He wanted it to last forever. After they ate, he wanted to play with Torao again and drink fizzy drinks and make her laugh.

 

But then Torao’s phone had started to ring. 

 

She wiped her hands on a napkin before answering. “Trafalgar.” She said immediately. “Really? Alright. You know I’m not technically certified- alright. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

 

Luffy didn’t realize he was pouting until Torao was pinching his cheek. 

 

“Emergency at the hospital. The attending surgeon has food poisoning and they apparently trust an unlicensed doctor to perform open heart surgery.”

 

Luffy frowned at that. Torao simply grinned and dropped a kiss first to his forehead, then to his pouting lips. 

 

“I’ll call you afterwards, okay? My power is probably back, too. And Shachi should be bringing Bepo back. I’ll call you.”

 

Luffy stared sadly as Torao gathered up her backpack and phone before darting out the door without giving him another glance. She left her laptop on the counter, along with one untouched onigiri. 

 

###

Chapter 11: 11

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Luffy was sulking. Zoro noticed immediately. 

 

“Dude, you spent two days with her.” He said incredulously. He then narrowed his eyes. “What’s your problem? You bored?”

 

“I wanna plaaaaaay. ” Luffy whined, flopping onto his back on the sofa. He kicked his legs and grumbled softly. Zoro flopped next to him with a grunt.

 

“Play with me. C’mon. Let’s play. We can make some blood elves and pretend to be pirates. I know you like doing that.”

 

“Or.” Sanji said with a mischievous grin, peeking over the sofa to get their attention. He gestured to the laptop sitting on the counter. “We can snoop. ”

 

“What?” Luffy frowned and sat up slightly. “Sanji, don’t touch Torao’s computer.”

 

“She might have nudes.” Sanji teased. Luffy bit his lip. Nudes of Torao? Why would she have naked photos of herself? 

 

“It’s not cool to be nosy.” He stated. Sanji rolled his eyes.

 

“Then text her and ask her for permission.”

 

Luffy frowned deeper when he realized something. “I don’t have her phone number. Also, I don’t think she can text while she does heart surgery.”

 

“That's a shame.” Sanji was already tapping away on the keyboard. Luffy peered over the couch with his stomach twisting uncomfortably. He didn’t feel right with what Sanji was doing.

 

But he was curious. 

 

He could at least supervise the snooping.

 

“She’s just a fucking nerd.” Sanji muttered as Luffy slowly approached him. “Not a single nude. All of her files are dissertations and fucking articles.”

 

“I don’t think she’s the type of woman who is into herself.” Zoro commented, walking up behind them. “I didn’t get that vibe. She’s hot as fuck, but I think she doesn’t really care about that.”

 

“She said her nose piercing didn’t hurt.” Luffy told them, pinching his septum as he tried to contribute to the conversation. “I didn’t ask about the other piercings, though.”

 

“I want to see those nipple piercings.” Sanji muttered, clicking through a photo album. Luffy couldn’t resist a smile as he saw the same photos that were on display at her office again, the familiar scowling face of Torao easily recognizable. New photos appeared, this time featuring a large white dog that looked familiar to Luffy. He was reminded of Torao’s Discord photo. 

 

A particular photo had Luffy feeling very uncomfortable. Torao was standing in what looked like a hallway of some sort of hospital, blood covering the front of her pale green scrubs. Her nose hadn’t been pierced yet, Luffy noticed, and her hair had streaks of blue in it. She was holding what looked like a human heart toward the camera with her bare hand, an emotionless expression on her face. 

 

“I feel like…” Luffy muttered. “We shouldn’t look at anything else.”

 

“Ah, Luffy, don’t be like that.” Sanji snapped, changing the photo. “I will find those nipple piercings.”

 

The next photo was of Torao’s back, smeared with red patches and what looked like fresh tattoos. Luffy recognized the smiley face and the large hearts that spanned over her back, realizing now that it resembled wings of some sort. 

 

The next photo was a picture of Torao’s face. Her eyes were closed and she was pulling her lower lip down. Luffy widened his eyes when he saw the word DEATH tattooed on the inside of it. 

 

The next photo was of Torao’s stomach, her four piercings around her navel red. The tattoo had been there already. He could see her underboob and Luffy felt slightly uncomfortable again. 

 

“Yeah. She’s fucking hot.” Sanji muttered. “You’re a lucky guy, Luffy.”

 

Luffy opened his mouth to say something but Zoro spoke first.

 

“Her personality almost ruins it.” He mused. Luffy didn’t like what either of them were saying. He clenched his teeth slightly, debating on saying anything. 

 

“Torao is really cool.” He finally defended. “Stop being mean.”

 

“Yeah. She’s cool to you. She’s a dick to everyone else.” Sanji clicked through a few more photos in quick succession. 

 

“You don’t even know her. You don’t know how nice she is.” Luffy reached out and slammed the laptop shut. Sanji sighed in irritation and opened it again before cursing as it prompted for a password. 

 

“Nice going, dude.” He snapped. “Now she’s gonna know we were looking through her pictures.”

 

“I didn’t even want to look at her pictures.” Luffy hurriedly grabbed the laptop and balanced it in his arms. “It’s none of your business. You guys have always been mean about Torao and so nosy ever since she started playing with me and I don’t like it!”

 

“Luffy.” Zoro said, crossing his arms. “You barely know this chick and while I really am happy for you, that you get to experience love and be blinded for the first time, you need to understand something-”

 

Luffy glared at him and interrupted him. “You’ve never even had a girlfriend before, Zoro, so no offense, but you can’t say anything to me. And neither have you, Sanji. You guys are just mean!”

 

Luffy turned and stomped off to his room with the laptop held tightly in his arms. 

 

He slammed his door childishly and gently placed the laptop on his bed, the screen now black due to inactivity. He stared at it while his thoughts churned. 

 

What was the big deal? Was he doing something wrong? It was true that he hadn’t known Torao that long, but he never needed much time to get to know people. He was always a good judge of character and he could tell that Torao was a good person. So what if she was a little mean?

 

Luffy laid down on his bed next to the computer and stared at the ceiling. The day had been exhausting for him. And he was bored! He still wanted to play the game! But he didn’t want to play with stupid Zoro. Maybe he could play alone!

 

He closed his eyes and imagined what he would do in the game and how he would do it. He would kill some boars for their meat so his character could eat. Then he would eat some snacks in real life because he would get hungry. He felt slightly annoyed as he tried to imagine snacks that Sanji didn’t make. It was hard because Sanji always made his snacks. He imagined himself buying snacks from the convenience store and putting them all over the counter in the kitchen. Ideally, Torao would be there so he could play with her. And maybe kiss her… 

 

Thinking of kissing her was a bad idea because Luffy was suddenly in the same position as earlier, with his stomach churning and his dick hard. The snacks and the game were long forgotten.

 

He wiggled off his shorts and gripped his own dick, pumping it a few times just as Torao had done. His hand wasn’t as soft and it wasn’t as wet, but it still felt fine. He lazily stroked himself as he imagined touching her nipples again, or even sucking them. His hand was clumsy and uncoordinated but the more he imagined Torao, the less it mattered. Torao was good at touching him. He especially liked it when she put it in her mouth-

 

Luffy came with a shudder, cupping his hand over the head of his dick to catch everything. His release was lame. He wanted Torao. 

 

But what were his friends’ problems with her? Did they see something he didn’t? Was Zoro correct? Was he blinded by this “love” thing?

 

Luffy rolled onto his stomach and wiped his hand on his shorts before throwing them across the room. He then grabbed his phone from the nightstand, sighing softly. 

 

He had several Discord messages from Torao and that perked up his mood. 

 

Hi Luffy 

I left my computer there, keep it safe for me 

I’ll be in surgery for a few hours 

Can I see you after?

 

The final message had a bunch of numbers, which he assumed might be her phone number. 

 

Luffy tapped the highlighted numbers and immediately opened a text message. 

 

Hi its luffy, have a good sugery and yes i want to see you 

 

Luffy locked his phone and stared at the ceiling again. How long did a surgery usually take? Torao had said several hours. What was he supposed to do until then? 

 

He decided to leave the apartment. 

 

Luffy used to spend a lot of time outdoors. Lately, since him and his friends had started playing that game online, he had been neglecting his outdoor activities and fun. He usually loved to look for bugs or work out at the gym a few blocks downtown. That’s what he was going to do. 

 

He changed into a pair of gym shorts and a short-sleeved muscle shirt that he found in the back of his closet. He really needed to finish the laundry he started but figured Sanji would put it away if it was left there for enough days.

 

He grabbed his phone and ear buds, along with a small gym bag, before leaving the apartment without a word to his friends. 

 

He jogged at a good pace on his way, passing by pedestrians and cute dogs. The sky was very clear, despite the forecast of rain that had taken over their city for the past week. Luffy couldn’t help but smile as the fresh air flooded his lungs. It felt so good to be outdoors.

 

The small gym that Luffy went to was owned by an elderly man named Rayleigh. He always pushed Luffy to his limit and apparently knew his grandfather to some extent. As soon as Luffy walked into the overheated gym, he immediately had to dodge a hard punch to the head. 

 

“Rayleigh, I’m out of practice!” Luffy shouted as he received a fist to the stomach. All of the wind was knocked out of his lungs. 

 

“You’ve been slacking.” Rayleigh said, grinning wildly. “I haven’t seen you in weeks! Come. Let’s do some drills.”

 

And so Luffy spent the next two hours in hell doing whatever Rayleigh told him to. He was dripping sweat and gasping for air by the end of it, chugging water like he was dehydrated. 

 

“You’ll come back every day this week.” Rayleigh told him, arms crossed tightly. “I’m disappointed, Joyboy. Missing your workouts like that.”

 

Luffy rolled his eyes at the weird nickname that Rayleigh liked to call him. “Okay, I will. I’ve just been busy!”

 

“Huh? Too busy for your health? You won’t get better if you don’t train.” Rayleigh frowned deeply and crossed his own arms. “What’s got you so busy?”

 

“Well, I’ve been playing a video game with my friends.” Luffy explained. “Oh, I also have a girlfriend now.”

 

Rayleigh seemed completely taken aback. “A what? ”

 

“A video game. It’s like-”

 

Luffy dodged another fist to the head. “I know what video games are. What do you mean you have a girlfriend?”

 

“Yeah. Her name is Tor-Law.”

 

“Torlaw. Huh. What about Boa?”

 

Luffy made a face. “What about her?”

 

Rayleigh scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. “You know I’m biased ‘bout my wife’s daughter. I’m happy for you, kid. But don’t neglect your training again. I expect to see you again this week.”

 

Luffy scratched the back of his head with a smile. “I got it. Thanks.”

 

Rayleigh grinned and adjusted his glasses. “I’m proud of you for keeping up, however. And the fact that you’re always willing to try new things. Now go run some laps.”

 

Luffy hit the showers immediately after finishing his cardio. He peeled off his sweat-soaked clothes and grimaced, glad he brought a plastic bag to put them into. He washed himself gently with the strange soap that Rayleigh always had in the bathroom before putting on a fresh pair of cutoff pants and a maroon shirt that he had found in his gym bag that smelled fine. His muscles were stiff and his legs felt like jelly, but he couldn’t resist the smiles that kept overtaking his face. He loved working out. He needed to make an effort to be more consistent.

 

He slid his feet into his sandals and sighed in comfort before placing his plastic bag of soiled clothes and sneakers in his gym bag. Nothing beat the comfort of sandals. 

 

Luffy’s stomach was growling and he groaned as he realized he did not bring his wallet. It was over a forty-minute jog back to the apartment and he was not going to survive. He could feel it. 

 

He pulled out his phone to call Robin to pick him up and was surprised to see two text messages from an unknown number that he assumed was Torao. He opened them immediately, frowning deeply. They had been sent fifteen minutes ago. 

 

Patient is stable. The head surgeon showed up. I’m free.

 

The second message was a picture. Luffy widened his eyes as he stared down at the smirking photo of Torao. The background of the photo was just white and boring but Torao looked so pretty. His heart seemed to skip a beat as he examined every part of the photo, eyes lingering on her mouth. He saved the photo immediately.

 

Luffy bounced on his heels on the sidewalk as he typed a response. 

 

I’m downtown i went to the gym and i'm hungry

Omg youre so PRETTY ❤️❤️❤️

 

Torao responded almost immediately, which was weird because usually she ignored him when he sent hearts. Maybe dating changed things. 

 

What gym? I’ll come pick you up

 

Luffy could have cheered. He shared his location and then sat on the curb to wait, humming to himself while watching the different cars drive by. The sky was starting to get gray, which made Luffy frown. He really loved the sun. He didn’t want more rainy days. 

 

It had just begun to sprinkle when Torao’s familiar black car pulled up in front of him. Luffy jumped up, shivered, and ripped the passenger door open. 

 

Torao looked tired. She was wearing the pale green scrubs that he had recognized from that illegal picture he had seen, but this time, they were clear of blood. Her hair was nearly tied up in a low bun and she also had on a white undershirt, which hid her arm tattoos. The only tattoos visible were her hand ones. 

 

She looked different.  She was so pretty to look at-

 

“What?” She suddenly snapped, voice thick with irritation. Luffy grinned and climbed into the car, unbothered. He tossed his gym bag messily into her back seat, causing her glare to deepen. 

 

“You look like a nerd.” He told her as he slammed the door behind him. His knees bit into the leather seats as he shifted around, causing them to squeak. He buckled his seatbelt before glancing at her again, eyes lingering on the curve of her lips. “A professional nerd. Also the picture you sent me was really cute.”

 

Torao stared at him for a few moments before she snorted and shook her head. Pink dusted her cheeks. 

 

“Yeah, whatever.” She muttered. Luffy adjusted his seatbelt and frowned at her. Did she not believe him or something? What was up with that? Well, she could tell him later.

 

“I have to go home.” Torao told him as she put the car into drive. “Shachi is dropping off Bepo and I need to be there.”

 

Luffy shuffled off his sandals and then boldly placed his hand on her thigh. She jerked slightly in surprise. 

 

“What’s Bepo?” He asked. Torao clenched her hands on the steering wheel.

 

“My dog.” She explained. “He’s a white husky. Shachi has had him for a few days because we are trying to breed his dog.”

 

Luffy parted his lips excitedly. “A puppy?”

 

“No, a full-grown dog.”

 

“All dogs are puppies. Is he friendly?”

 

“Yes. Bepo is very friendly. He’s a bit apologetic, if that makes sense.”

 

Luffy imagined a fluffy dog saying that it was sorry and snickered to himself. He rubbed Torao's thigh, feeling how she tensed up underneath him. Maybe she didn't like touches like that. He pulled back his hand. 

 

“Did you have a good afternoon?” Torao asked as she turned down a busy street. Luffy crossed his arms to stop himself from touching her again. 

 

“No. I got into a fight with my friends over-” He cut himself off and looked at Torao frantically. He almost blurted everything to her! She glanced at him twice, eyebrows creased. 

 

“What?” She demanded. “What happened?” 

 

Luffy chewed his lip and narrowed his eyes. He hated secrets. Plus, would Torao really mind?

 

“Well, I didn’t want to do it!” He said loudly, causing her to flinch. “I told them not to, but Sanji was so nosy, and I didn’t want to look at your stuff, because I don’t think that’s cool, but Sanji made me!”

 

“Wait, did you guys go through my computer?!” Torao demanded loudly. “What the fuck?!”

 

“I took it away.” Luffy glared out the window, tightening his arms. “I’m so mad at them. They were snooping and being so rude and annoying and telling me stupid things and being so unfair to me. Just because of you.”

 

Torao was quiet. The soft sound of the blinker filled the silence as Torao turned onto another street.

 

“Luffy-ya, I will, of course, look at my computer history to know what you guys saw, and I am glad that you are feeling remorse for what your friends did, but I can’t say I think you’re the kind of person to initiate something like that. I appreciate you taking it away from them and for defending me.”

 

Luffy bit his lip and looked over to her. She was grinding her teeth. 

 

“I told them you were nice.” He murmured, returning his hand to her thigh where he squeezed slightly. “They just…”

 

“I’m used to it.” Torao muttered. “Unfortunately, I look a certain way. And I’m told I can be a bit… of a bitch. And I’m fine with that. I don’t need people to like me.”

 

“I like you.” Luffy said quickly. Torao narrowed her eyes, though her cheeks tinted slightly pink again. 

 

“Yeah, I don’t know how or why…” She glanced at him again. “Okay, tell me what they looked at.”

 

“Weird nerd papers and pictures.” He said. “Some of the same pictures that were in the food room in your office. Some pictures were new.”

 

Torao hummed. “Oh, really? What did you think?”

 

Luffy shrugged and watched the trees outside the window. “I think you don’t smile very much. Are you sad?”

 

Torao was quiet again. She didn’t respond until she stopped the car in front of a large, bronze gate. They both watched it open slowly. The rain continued to fall lightly around them, causing the world to appear darker than it was. 

 

“Sad is a good word to use.” She said in a low voice. “But sadness has an opposite and implies room for improvement. I don’t really feel anything.”

 

Luffy thought that was very sad. 

 

Torao drove through what looked like an upscale apartment complex for a few minutes before pulling into a parking spot underneath a wooden gazebo. She got out of the car quickly and was opening Luffy’s door before he could even remove his seat belt. 

 

“Can I kiss you?” Torao asked him, looking slightly hesitant. Luffy gave her a grin and nodded, turning to face her. She stepped onto the side of the car to lean over him, her lips slightly cold once they touched his. Luffy’s stomach erupted in tingles immediately. The kiss was short and chaste but Luffy found that he liked it just as much as the other kinds. She pulled back, her nose gently pressing against his.

 

They got out of the car and Luffy gazed around the cute apartments in wonder. There was so much grass and so many flowers around them! He wondered if it was very expensive to live in a place like that. One of the sidewalks was being renovated and was blocked off by yellow caution tape. Luffy felt the slightly wet blades of grass against his toes as they walked around it. 

 

Torao’s condo, as she called it, was two stories tall and even had a chimney. Luffy walked around excitedly, examining each and every thing that was interesting to him. Torao didn’t have a lot of decorations and her furniture was a little boring and too fancy, but it did look nice. She had a large television mounted on the wall in front of a black leather couch. There were several bookshelves filled to the brim lining each side of the TV, with titles too long and complicated for Luffy to read. The hardwood floor was covered with a plush white carpet that felt heavenly underneath his toes.

 

Luffy found himself in the kitchen while Torao went upstairs to shower and change her clothes. He looked through each black cabinet curiously, his frown deepening as he counted the food products she had in the entire room on one hand. He was deeply offended by her pantry, which literally only had rice and coffee. He counted five kinds of rice and seventeen different kinds of coffee. She didn’t even have meat. 

 

Luffy opened the fridge and blinked. It was empty save for a pitcher of water and a pitcher of a dark liquid that, upon further scent inspection, was cold coffee.

 

The freezer wasn’t much better and only had ice cubes and strange foil packets in it. 

 

Luffy was digging his hand into an open bag of coffee beans when he heard the front door open. He frowned as he popped three beans into his mouth and chewed slowly. They were awful.

 

“Captain!” An unfamiliar voice yelled. “I’m here!”

 

A loud bark caused Luffy to perk up in interest. He shut the pantry and moved toward the voice, which was back in the living room. 

 

The man who came into view was wearing one of those weird hats that the people in one of Torao’s pictures had been wearing. Luffy grinned widely and the man stared at him with wide, fearful eyes. Luffy examined the large white dog with interest. 

 

“Dude, did you break in here?” The guy asked nervously as he glanced around. “You have to leave, now.”

 

“Huh?” Luffy asked stupidly, setting the bag of coffee beans on one of the many tables. “I didn’t break in.” 

 

“Uhhh, who are you?”

 

Luffy grinned. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meetcha!”

 

He offered his hand. The man hesitated before shaking it. “Um, okay, my name is Shachi. Uh, what are you doing here?”

 

“I came with Torao.” Luffy gestured toward the stairs. “She’s changing.”

 

“Wait, are you talking about Law ? Did she invite you here?”

 

The man was stupid then. “I said I came with Torao.” Luffy repeated slower. “We came in her fancy car.”

 

Shachi widened his eyes. “She let you in her car?! I’m not even allowed in there!”

 

“That’s because you always drop crumbs everywhere.” Luffy grinned again as Torao came up behind him. He turned to look at her, not surprised that she was wearing weird ripped clothes again, consisting of an oversized gray shirt with what looked like an embroidery of a polar bear on the breast paired with shredded jeans that were, again, too tight. Shachi sniffed loudly. 

 

“It hurts. It always hurts. You’re mean. Here’s your dog. I’m leaving.”

 

Torao grinned. “Don’t be like that. Luffy-ya’s hungry, you wanna eat?” Torao frowned when she noticed the bag of coffee beans. “That’s weird…”

 

“They aren’t very good.” Luffy told her. She blinked at him. 

 

“… I’m not even surprised. That’s fine. I’m gonna order something. Any requests?”

 

“Onigiri.” Shachi and Luffy said simultaneously. They locked eyes in surprise. Torao hummed as she patted Bepo’s head, not noticing the exchange. The dog kept trying to lick her hand and she skillfully dodged each swipe of the large tongue. 

 

“Yeah, that sounds good. I wonder if they have any new flavors at that one place…”

 

Torao left to get her phone, Bepo trotting happily behind her. Shachi immediately pointed a finger in Luffy’s face. 

 

“Alright, guy, what’s your deal? How do you know about the onigiris?”

 

“Huh? Torao won’t eat anything else.” Luffy slapped Shachi’s hand away. “Don’t point at me like that.”

 

“Yeah. She won’t eat anything else. All she eats is rice and rice and fucking rice. And coffee! That’s it!”

 

“She ate five onigiri today.” Luffy said. “Maybe more. Yesterday she didn’t eat anything.”

 

“Wait, did you hang out with her yesterday too?” Shachi frowned. “Who the hell are you?”

 

“I already told you.” Luffy glared at him as Torao returned. 

 

“They’ll deliver in thirty minutes.” She said. She then knelt down to rub the silent dog’s cheeks. “My Bepo. How are you doing? Did you have a good time with this idiot?”

 

Luffy watched the dog curiously. It did look sad. 

 

Shachi removed his hat and jacket, revealing a head of deep red hair and a toned body, before turning on nearly every light in the living room. He turned on the television, the side table lamps, and even the bathroom light. Luffy thought that was strange but remembered that Torao was scared of the dark. 

 

Luffy kicked his flip flops onto the floor before sitting cross-legged on the hard sofa. It was cold against his bare skin and he shivered slightly. Shachi glared at him with his soft green eyes before he threw a red blanket at his face. 

 

Torao sat next to Luffy, tucking her legs underneath her in the same way she did on Luffy’s own couch. Her bare feet were cold against Luffy’s but he liked the contact.

 

Shachi noticed immediately that something was different and pointed at Luffy again. Luffy slapped his hand away. 

 

“What’s going on here?” He demanded, rubbing his hand. “This boy is slapping me, you’re touching him, you’re hanging out with him…”

 

“Shut up, Shachi.” Torao muttered tiredly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Just put something on to watch.”

 

“In a sec. Penguin is coming. He’s bringing tira-mi-suuuu.”

 

Luffy frowned. Why was he saying it like that?

 

Torao’s cell phone started to ring and she got up to get it with a sigh. Shachi wagged his stupid eyebrows at Luffy. Luffy thought he looked very stupid with his red hair.

 

“That’s the only other thing she will eat, by the way.” He whispered. “Bet you didn’t know that, guy. ”

 

Luffy didn’t know what was happening. He did his best to ignore Shachi as he continued to haze him. 

 

There was a knock on the front door around twenty minutes later. Luffy jumped up, excited to get away from Shachi’s judgmental glare, to get it. He didn’t anticipate Shachi racing him to the door and ripping it open. Luffy looked back toward the room that Torao had disappeared into, wishing she would come back and save him. Shachi paid the delivery guy with handfuls of bills before slamming the door, not even waiting for change. Rich people.

 

The penguin boy arrived not ten minutes after, when Torao was dividing the onigiri onto four plates that she had brought to the living room. She still had her phone pressed to her ear and quickly disappeared again. Penguin set a white box on the coffee table in front of the couch and removed his hat, revealing a head of dark hair. He stared at Luffy with a flat expression that mirrored Shachi’s, though his eyes were a deep brown. Luffy thought they both looked very similar and very stupid.

 

“There's this random guy here, by the way.” Shachi said after a moment of glaring. “Apparently, he gets to ride in the Mach-E and touch Captain’s feet.”

 

Penguin gaped openly. “What the fuck? For reals?”

 

“For reals.”

 

“I’m Luffy.” Luffy said. He was ignored. 

 

“I never get to ride in the Mach-E.” Penguin muttered, sizing up Luffy. Shachi nodded sadly. 

 

“Yeah. And the whole foot thing…” 

 

“I mean, Captain hates anything to do with feet. What do you mean he gets to touch them?”

 

“Get this, Pen. She sat on the couch next to him and her bare feet touched his. And his feet are still bare right now.”

 

They both gasped dramatically, pointing at Luffy’s toes. Luffy was so done with that conversation and let out his breath through his nose. He sat back on the sofa and rested the blanket back onto his lap. He ignored the two idiots talking around him.

 

Torao returned, thankfully phoneless, and moved one plate of rice balls on the coffee table closer to where she had been sitting before and relaxed back in the same spot. She tugged the blanket from Luffy’s lap to cover her legs before scooting closer and placing the plate of multicolored onigiri on top of her legs. Her friends gaped at her. 

 

“Here, this one is umeboshi.” Torao murmured, pointing a tattooed finger to one of the rice balls as she ignored her friends. “It’s not my favorite flavor because it’s kind of sour, but it’s a very popular flavor from this place. The other ones are salmon and tuna mayo. This is my favorite restaurant, but the one we went to yesterday is also very good. This place uses natural ingredients to color the rice to help distinguish what the fillings are.”

 

“Law, what the fuck is going on?” Shachi demanded suddenly. Torao scowled at him. 

 

“Can you put a movie on or something? Did I fucking stutter before?” She angrily grabbed a pink rice ball. 

 

“Oh my god. You’re such a bitch.” Shachi grumbled as he turned on the TV, though his lips quirked up slightly. “How was work?”

 

Torao rolled her eyes. “Called in. Had to perform a heart operation. Marco showed up and kicked me out. He just called to let me know the patient is still stable.”

 

Both of Torao’s friends groaned. Luffy munched his orange onigiri thoughtfully. The umeboshi was strange but not unpleasant. He preferred meat filling.

 

Torao took a large bite of her own onigiri, humming softly. 

 

“Marco is such a loser.” Shachi mumbled. “He never lets you do anything.”

 

Torao turned to face him, onigiri hanging limply in the air. “Well, I’m not supposed to.”

 

Luffy leaned forward and took a bite of her rice ball quickly, earning a look of disbelief as he slightly bit her finger. He chewed happily. The salmon was good.

 

“And how are the teeth?” Penguin asked, though he shot Luffy a brief glare. “Ripped any good ones out?”

 

“I mean, I cut my hours. It’s tiring to work two jobs. I might hire an associate dentist.” Torao took another bite, keeping it out of Luffy’s range of biting.

 

“That’s why you should have just stuck to composing music.” Shachi said. “You could be big.”

 

Torao seemed to fold in on herself, something that Luffy thought was strange. “That was just a hobby.”

 

“Yeah but hobbies imply you still do them.” Shachi countered. Penguin nodded in affirmation.

 

“Fuck off.” Torao snapped. Luffy wanted to ask but he figured she would tell him if she wanted to.

 

The conversation ended and they all watched whatever Shachi put on the TV, which happened to be something stupid that Luffy didn’t care about at all. Torao finished three onigiri and Luffy gestured to the remaining two pink ones on the plate. She gave him a strange look. 

 

“You’re full?” Her voice was full of disbelief. 

 

“Oh, yeah.” Luffy lied, eyes darting around. “You don’t mind finishing them right?”

 

Torao stared into his soul as she lifted one of his untouched rice balls to her mouth, where she took a large bite. Luffy’s stomach swirled with that weird heat feeling and he quickly pushed it away. He didn’t want a repeat of earlier. Her friends watched with their jaws dropped.

 

“I know you’re lying.” Torao muttered after she swallowed. “Your stomach is a bottomless pit.”

 

Luffy smiled sheepishly. “Rice fills you up faster, Torao! That’s why I prefer meat!”

 

Torao ate six rice balls in total. 

 

The movie was super lame, something about robots or murders, Luffy didn’t know. He was too busy wishing he could hold Torao’s hand for some reason.

 

Her hand was resting over the blanket, on her lap. Luffy liked her hands and had a strange desire to touch them. But Torao was prickly like a cactus and he didn’t know if she would want him to. Especially because her friends were there. Maybe she didn’t want her friends to know they were dating? Friends were annoying, Luffy decided. 

 

Torao made the decision for him, however, as she slid her hand under the blanket where Luffy’s hands were resting on his own lap. She entwined their fingers immediately. Luffy felt his cheeks get hot and his stomach flip. Her hand was soft and warm in his. 

 

Torao turned and pressed her lips against his ear, causing him to shiver slightly. “I thought you did whatever you wanted, Luffy-ya.” She breathed. Luffy chewed his lip and turned his head slightly to face her. Her lips were dangerously close to his. 

 

“I didn’t know if you wanted me to do anything in front of your friends.” He responded as quietly as possible as to not draw the attention of said friends. Torao grinned, leaning closer. Their lips brushed together-

 

That drew the attention of those friends. 

 

The movie was paused and two pairs of eyes were suddenly on them. Luffy wondered if they shared a brain. 

 

“You’re smiling.” Shachi said accusingly. 

 

“It’s really scary.” Penguin added, a deep frown on his face. Torao rolled her eyes, though Luffy could see that her cheeks were pink. 

 

“Just play the movie. You guys are being super annoying.”

 

“Nah, nah, something is going on here.” Penguin said frantically, raising his voice. “You just bring this kid over, and he just gets to ride in your Mach-E and touch you and we deserve to know. Okay? We deserve to know if our best friend, our Captain, is up to something.”

 

Shachi’s lip trembled dramatically. “Pen is right. It’s too weird and suspicious, Captain. You have to tell us!”

 

Bepo barked, seemingly agreeing. Torao sighed in irritation and pulled her hand from Luffy’s. She ran her fingers through her slightly damp hair. 

 

“Look, you guys, I appreciate you, really I do, but you can’t just grill me about something like this.” She scowled at them. “Just know that I’m hanging out with Luffy-ya lately, okay?”

 

Shachi and Penguin’s jaws dropped. 

 

“They’re dating.” Shachi deduced. 

 

“No doubt about it.” Penguin agreed. 

 

Torao seemed to want to be mean, but her cheeks suddenly went all pink again and her two friends acted as if the world was ending. Luffy smiled in confusion, not understanding anything, but it was probably fine. Torao was smiling and that made him smile.

 

The movie was abandoned as all of the questions started. 

 

“Is it, like, super serious?” Shachi asked Luffy directly as Torao took the plates to the kitchen. “Like, serious?”

 

“I don’t know what that means.” Luffy glared. “You’re really annoying!”

 

Shachi seemed as though he was personally offended. Penguin crossed his arms. 

 

“What he’s trying to ask is, are you fucking our Captain?”

 

Shachi quickly crossed his arms as well. Luffy looked toward the kitchen, hoping Torao would come back so her annoying friends would leave him alone. Why did people always ask about that? First his own friends, now these people. He really needed to figure out what fucking exactly entailed so that, when he did do it to her, he could actually answer.

 

“You’ve seen it?” Shachi suddenly whispered. He made some hand gestures. Penguin nodded, eyes determined. 

 

“I don’t know what you’re saying.” Luffy was getting irritated .

 

“Idiot, her special piercing. She said she got it and, well…”

 

“She wouldn’t let us see! How unfair!”

 

Luffy had a feeling they meant the piercing between her legs and opened his mouth to comment, but he was interrupted by Torao returning. 

 

“Are you two really asking if he’s been in my pants?” She set down four small plates and scowled at her friends. They had the audacity to grin.

 

“Well, we are just looking out for you, Captain.” Shachi said. 

 

“Yeah, we just want to make sure you’re doing okay. You know. After the-” Penguin was interrupted by Shachi hissing at him. 

 

Torao suddenly stiffened, her fingers tightening on the cutlery slightly. “Why are you bringing that up?”

 

Shachi hit Penguin in the arm. “He didn’t mean to. He would never bring that up.”

 

“It sounds a lot like he fucking was.”

 

The air seemed to chill. Luffy looked at Torao's face, surprised to see that she looked almost spooked , and didn’t look angry at all. But her voice…

 

“Spit the fucking words out, Penguin.” She said in a way so harsh that Luffy flinched.

 

“Well, you said it didn’t bother you anymore.” Penguin said quickly as Shachi groaned. “It was five years ago. You said… it didn't bother you… and you were over it…”

 

“I am over it.” Law spat, saliva flying from her mouth. “But no one else gets to talk about it, especially not a fucking man.”

 

Luffy felt very uncomfortable and gently eased himself from the situation. He escaped to the bathroom as they started yelling at each other, his heart hammering. 

 

What had happened to her? Was it something bad? She looked almost scared… Luffy didn’t like that look on her face. And she had sounded so mad. 

 

Luffy washed his hands and dried them on the plush white towel slowly. He could hear yelling and smashing and no matter how loud he hummed, he couldn’t drown out the noises. He looked around the bathroom, admiring how clean it was. It was so coordinated. Torao seemed to have a lot of different kinds of hand soaps. More soaps than food. That made him chuckle, though he could even tell that his attempt to distract himself was futile. He was too curious about what was happening in the living room. It was quiet now. 

 

He hesitated several times before leaving the bathroom, unsure about if he wanted to be present in that conversation again. He decided to count to one hundred before opening the door. 

 

It was eerily silent and dark as soon as he slowly pushed the door open. He shut off the bathroom light and nearly tripped over Bepo, who simply whined and pressed his head against Luffy’s legs. Luffy patted his soft head before kneeling down to scruff his neck. 

 

“You’re such a good boy.” He whispered. “You don’t like yelling either, huh? Come on. Maybe we can find some treats for you.”

 

Bepo seemed to like that word and wagged his tail excitedly before barking. Luffy shushed him, which didn’t seem to work. Bepo barked at him loudly several times and Luffy glanced around in panic. 

 

“Are you bothering my dog?” Torao asked in a soft voice. Luffy looked down the hall, frowning as he noticed her silhouette leaned against the wall. 

 

“I think he’s hungry.” Luffy said, patting the suddenly quiet dog’s head. Bepo whined and then walked away, down the opposite end of the hall that Torao was leaned against. Luffy got to his feet and rubbed his sweaty palms on his shorts as he slowly approached her. “Why is it so dark?”

 

“Because I turned the lights off. What a waste of electricity.”

 

It was nearly pitch black.

 

“Torao…” Luffy gulped, feeling uneasy. “Are you okay?”

 

“They left, by the way.” Torao added offhandedly, voice slightly detached and more monotone than Luffy had ever heard as she ignored his question. “Be careful with your bare feet when you come back to the living room. There’s glass on the floor. I swept it up but I might have missed something.”

 

“Torao, are you okay?” Luffy repeated hesitantly. That caused Torao to snort. 

 

“Never.” She muttered. “Apparently I’m never okay.”

 

Luffy didn’t know what to say to that, so he did what he usually did when his friends were upset, and that was to walk up to Torao and roughly pull her into his arms. He expected resistance or complaints, but all he got was her entire body weight slumping against him and a shuddered breath. 

 

“I-I don’t need your pity.” Torao breathed, but her arms snaked around his shoulders and she held him tighter than he was holding her. Luffy slid his hand up the back of her baggy shirt, rubbing her soft skin. 

 

“I’m not pitying you.” Luffy said in a low voice. “Don’t be stupid.”

 

That caused Torao to snort softly. “You’re the only person I know who would insult me to make me feel better.”

 

“Torao, I’m not insulting you either and I’m not making you feel better.” Luffy creased his eyebrows. “I’m being here for you. That’s what Nami taught me.”

 

“I’ll have to thank Nami-ya.” Torao sniffled wetly into his neck. Her arms tightened. “Thank you, too.”

 

Luffy continued to rub her back until his arm got tired. He then pulled back slightly, looking into Torao’s wet eyes. She seemed so lost and it made his heart feel weird. He reached up and wiped the tears from underneath her eyes, enraptured by the shiny golden color of her irises. 

 

“You don’t feel bad for me?” Torao asked, her hands tugging at the cloth covering his shoulders. Luffy creased his eyebrows. 

 

“Why would I feel bad for you?” He asked genuinely. Seriously, what was there to feel bad about? Her friends had annoyed her and she had yelled at them, much like Luffy had done earlier. There was nothing to feel bad about. Torao tucked her face back against Luffy’s neck, pressing a soft kiss to his skin. 

 

“Because I… let something like that happen to me.”

 

Luffy could feel her trembling and felt like it was a conversation that might have been better to have while sitting down. 

 

He quickly adjusted his hands until they were gripping the tops of the back of her thighs before lifting her up immediately. She gasped and gripped his back in surprise, but didn’t try to get away. He carried her to the sofa while walking like a penguin, glancing around for glass, before sitting down quickly, causing her to follow. She straddled his thighs with a huff of air, scowling at him, though without venom. 

 

“What happened?” He asked, rubbing his hands over her clothed legs. The ripped fabric felt weird on his palms. Torao chewed her lip and looked down, eyes darting up after a few moments to meet his. 

 

“I… the last time I tried dating, about five years ago… I wasn’t really attracted to him. We went out and got shitfaced drunk and… he brought me back to his place and wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Torao’s face twisted as if she had eaten a lemon. “Fucker could barely stay hard. Maybe he was guilty. Maybe he felt bad because I was bleeding.”

 

“Bleeding?” Luffy asked, feeling as though he didn’t want to know the answer. Torao returned her face to his neck, nodding. 

 

“Yeah. He tore the fuck out of the tissue inside of me. It was horrible. I couldn’t understand what was wrong with me to warrant that kind of treatment. Maybe I was a bitch. Maybe I should have just said yes. I didn’t even go to the police. I didn’t do anything except throw myself into my job and pretend it didn’t happen . It always seems so easy to report it. It isn’t easy. It’s embarrassing and shameful.”

 

“Wait, he forced you to put it in?” Luffy asked flatly as he connected the dots. “His wiener? He just shoved it in?”

 

Torao laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, he did.”

 

Luffy remembered how it felt to have his finger inside of her and winced. “No, that’s not good. It’s too small.”

 

“Yeah… that's the thing.” Torao sighed against his neck, lips briefly brushing over his skin. “I can’t… relax. I just remember that night… no matter how many times I tell myself I’m over it or that it doesn’t matter anymore. I am over it. But sometimes… I don’t know why, but sometimes maybe I’m not over it.”

 

Luffy understood that. Sometimes he felt like he was over Ace’s death but then it hurt just as much as when it first happened. He rubbed Torao’s thighs slowly since he couldn’t rub the scar over his chest. 

 

They were silent for a few minutes. Torao was breathing evenly and Luffy began stroking his hand up and down her bare back again. He wondered if she fell asleep but she suddenly shifted to adjust herself on his lap. Luffy swallowed.

 

“Well, I would never do that.” He told her in a low voice. “It would probably hurt a lot and I don’t want to hurt you.”

 

Luffy hadn’t realized that things like that happened. He knew what rape was, of course, but it always seemed so out of reach. The fact that Torao had experienced something so awful… it caused his heart to beat in anger. He tightened his arms around her. Never would she experience something like that again. Not if he could help it. 

 

You can’t fix people.

 

No, he didn’t want to fix Torao. He wanted to bring her good experiences and make her happy. Something about her was sad and broken. And he was glad that she was showing it to him.

 

She had become an important part of his life, even before they had met and fallen into the romance. Torao had been a friend when Luffy needed it, albeit his need being a totally different situation, but he intended to be there for her, no matter what she needed. Whether it be hugs or someone to talk to.

 

“Thank you.” Torao breathed against his neck before she pressed a firm kiss to it. Luffy tightened his arms around her again at the unexpected bolt of electricity that shot up his spine.

 

“You don’t need to thank me.” Luffy said tightly. Why was he suddenly breathless? “I just don’t wanna get hurt by you squishing me.”

 

Torao’s breath hitched. “Are you telling me that I’m tight, Luffy-ya?”

 

The air became charged with something unfamiliar. Luffy furrowed his eyebrows. “My finger barely fit and you were squeezing it so much that it hurt, so yes.”

 

Torao shifted slightly in his lap, causing that strange feeling to pool in his gut again. The zing of his spine seemed to enhance it. “Yeah?”

 

Luffy frowned and placed his hands on her hips to keep her still. “Yeah. Even one finger was really tight. Hey, Torao, if you have problems like that, you shouldn’t shove my fingers in there. I really don’t want to hurt you.”

 

“Okay.” She said breathlessly. She squirmed again and Luffy held her tighter, getting a little annoyed that she kept moving. He didn’t think that his dick getting hard was a good idea at the moment, and with his recent experience, the weird feeling was always there before it got hard. Torao wiggling in his lap definitely wasn’t going to help it. He seemed weak to her. 

 

Torao seemed to have a different idea as she breathed her hot breath all over Luffy’s neck. He slid his hands to her ass and suddenly pulled her flush against his lap. That way, she couldn’t move anymore. He didn’t realize that feeling her pressed against him would cause his dick to jump with interest.

 

“Torao.” Luffy bit his lip in frustration. “What are you doing?”

 

That caused Torao to slump against him again with a breathless laugh. “Are you serious? I guess I need to be more direct. Come with me to my room, Luffy-ya. I want something from you.”

 

Luffy frowned but allowed Torao to leave his lap. He gazed up at her as she wiped both of her eyes with the palms of her hands. She held them to her eyes for a few seconds longer than necessary before she forced a creepy smile. Luffy stood up, adjusting his shorts to hide his half-hard cock. Something about Torao was so enticing to him. But he couldn’t. Not while she was like… that. 

 

Torao led him by his hand up the carpeted stairs. Luffy liked how the carpet felt on his toes and found himself clenching them over the soft fabric. 

 

Torao led Luffy around a corner at the top of the stairs and down a hallway, toward a lone door at the end of it. Luffy’s stomach swirled with anticipation that he didn’t understand. 

 

Torao’s room was just as boring as Luffy thought it would be. There was a desktop computer in one corner and a large bed in the other. The sheets were black and the curtains were black and even the lampshade was black. Luffy gave Torao a flat look and she rolled her eyes. 

 

“Welcome to my room.” She said without emotion. “Now get in the bed.” 

 

Luffy’s stomach jumped excitedly and he stripped off his shirt immediately, previous reservations about getting hard when she was sad forgotten. He then belly-flopped onto the bed, grinning. Torao gave him an amused look before removing her own shirt. Luffy’s mouth went dry as he was met with her perfectly round, bare breasts. His mouth then watered as she pushed down her too-tight pants, revealing a red pair of what could barely be called underwear. 

 

Torao walked over to him slowly. Luffy took in every black line of ink on her skin, every shiny piercing, and every curve of her body. 

 

She settled herself over him, with her knees on either side of his legs. Luffy placed a hand on her bare hip before sliding it back to her ass that he really wanted to squeeze. Torao shifted closer, settling her body against his. Luffy slapped his other hand onto her ass as well, earning a glare as the sound echoed through the room. Luffy squeezed both cheeks and felt his dick jump in his shorts in excitement. He gazed at the face of the woman over him, entranced by the curve of her plump lips and the sharpness of her golden eyes. 

 

“Torao is so pretty.” He murmured, causing her to widen her eyes. She ducked her head to kiss him hard on the mouth without a response. 

 

Luffy discovered that he liked to rub her all over his dick while they kissed. It didn’t feel as good as he knew it could, because of his shorts and her underwear digging into the head of his dick, but he enjoyed the pressure from her body. She was so warm and soft and, even though she was so skinny, she had a sort of plumpness to her. Especially her ass. Maybe only her ass. Luffy didn’t know. Maybe her lips and her ass. Oh, and her breasts…

 

“You’re driving me crazy with that.” Torao breathed against his lips, her tongue demanding entry to his mouth. “Fuck, Luffy-ya. What the fuck do you do to me?”

 

“I’m just rubbing it against you.” Luffy said, surprised at how deep his voice sounded. His heart was hammering in his chest and he didn’t want to do anything except feel good. And he wanted Torao to feel good, too. He had a slight worry about her because he knew what had happened to her now, but he didn’t want that to interfere with making her feel good. 

 

And she was enjoying it. She was panting and moving her own hips to cause more friction. 

 

But Luffy wanted his shorts off. 

 

“Let me take them off.” He whispered, releasing his firm grip on her ass. Torao moved off of him so he could push the offending article down, nearly breathing in relief as his cock was suddenly free from the restricting fabric. He removed his boxers as well, enjoying the air against his skin. He tossed his clothes across the room. Torao scowled at him again and he gently eased her onto her back. 

 

Luffy pressed their lips together, moving closer to her. She flinched slightly as his dick pressed against her thigh and Luffy tried to pull back. He didn’t think that her flinching was a good thing. Torao mixed her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer. 

 

“I’m fine.” She gasped. “Fuck, kiss me more.”

 

And so he did. He sucked her plump lips and even her tongue, turning her into a puddle of jelly beneath him. She really liked when he bit her lips, too. Her kisses turned sloppy and Luffy swallowed all of her drool that she seemed to produce. He tried to trace his tongue against the inside of her lip to feel that tattoo he had seen in the photo, but the skin was smooth. Torao moaned brokenly as he did it. 

 

He moved to her neck, biting the skin gently. Torao nearly ripped his hair out and yelled, as Luffy expected, so he did it again, a little harder. 

 

“Fuck, fuck. ” Torao breathed. “Come closer.”

 

Luffy slid between her thighs, resting against her body. His cock brushed against her soaking underwear and he was suddenly overcome with the desire to taste her again. She was tense and he figured it would also help to relax her.

 

He kissed down her body, taking his time to tongue at her piercings on his way. He had to suck her nipples and he experimented with biting one. That caused Torao to scream and arch her back in a way that rubbed too good against his cock and he had to move his hips away a little. 

 

Luffy quickly pulled down her underwear, flinging them away as soon as he released her lanky legs from them. He did not see where they landed and he did not care. He pressed his face against her wet lips immediately, letting out a grateful breath. She smelled amazing. 

 

“I could do this all day.” Luffy told her, looking up at her. Torao stiffened and widened her eyes, cheeks red. Luffy pushed her thighs apart wider before firmly licking between her soaked folds. Her scent filled his mouth and he greedily sucked, keeping his hands on her hips as they jerked. 

 

“You talk too much.” Torao mumbled, breaking off in a gasp. She covered her face with one hand, lips parted. “Fuck.”

 

Luffy watched her face as he swirled his tongue around her piercing. “Maybe you like how much I talk.” He muttered. Her response was to throw her head back and grip his hair. Did she like when he talked? It seemed like it. He sucked her clit into his mouth in thought before releasing it. 

 

“You taste so good.” He told her, causing her to arch her back further and let out a broken moan. He grinned. She did like it. “You’re so wet down here, Torao. I’m gonna slurp it all up.”

 

“F-fuck.” Torao cried, pressing his face back to her body. “Just eat me, come on, now. ”

 

Luffy hummed and the vibrations seemed to feel good for her, too. He let the fact that she was bossing him around slide. “I am eating you, can’t you feel it? My tongue all over you?”

 

A soft gasp was his response. He noisily sucked at her lips, experimenting with another hum as he sucked her clit back into his mouth. He adjusted his lips so that he could suckle on her piercing, too, something that Torao went crazy for.

 

Luffy firmly slid his tongue down her folds, tonguing at her entrance. He loved the amount of wetness that always accumulated there. He wondered if he could put his tongue all the way in there. 

 

“Go ahead.” Torao gasped, hips jerking. Could she read his mind? Luffy didn’t need to be told twice. He dipped his tongue inside of her, moaning softly at the feeling of her tight walls around him. 

 

Torao suddenly went rigid, her walls spasming around his tongue as she moaned loudly. Luffy massaged the inside of her slowly, thrusting his tongue as far as it could go. It got easier the deeper he thrusted his tongue inside of her and Torao continued to let out a string of curses. She rocked her hips against his face until she slumped to the mattress. 

 

“Fuck.” She said weakly. “I wanted to enjoy that more.”

 

Luffy pulled his tongue out and gave her a final slurp. “I love eating you.” He told her. “I’ll do it as much as you let me. You taste so good.”

 

Torao gave him a crazed look. “You’re going to kill me.” She muttered. “You’re so into it. You’re so enthusiastic. Fuck.”

 

Luffy grinned at the weird compliments. “Thanks, Torao!”

 

She breathed raggedly for a few moments before sitting up. She tugged his arms and then pushed him down until his back was against the mattress. He relaxed, grinning as he knew he was going to get his dick sucked again. She was so hot-

 

But she straddled his hips instead. Luffy frowned slightly. 

 

“What are you doing?” He asked. Torao met his eyes as she gripped the base of his cock. 

 

“What’s it look like?” She muttered. Luffy opened his mouth to retort but broke off as Torao rubbed his cock against her wet pussy. He felt himself pulse hard and gripped her hips in surprise. 

 

“Torao.” He said quickly, realizing what she was doing. “Don’t force it.”

 

She laughed breathlessly. “Thanks, Luffy-ya. But beyond my stupid trauma, I’ve been going crazy thinking about your fat dick inside of me for days .”

 

Luffy groaned at yet another weird compliment and bit his lip. He cock seemed to be dancing in her hand, the pulsing becoming dangerous. He was going to come already. 

 

A part of him loved that she had been thinking about him for the past few days, It was a relief to know that it wasn't only him. He hadn't really thought of sex, but he had definitely spent a lot of time thinking about her.

 

But it just didn't seem like he would fit. The tight ring of muscle pressing against the head of his cock was intimidating. He remembered how she had felt around his finger and found himself feeling hesitant, especially as she continued to drag his dick against that spot repeatedly.

 

“It’s too small.” Luffy said quickly. “Torao-”

 

But she ignored him and the head of his cock was suddenly surrounded by a tight wetness that was incomparable to anything else he had felt, even her mouth. Luffy let out a whine, his grip on her hips almost painful as he held her still. It didn't hurt at all. It was too good. Torao let out her own noise, trembling on top of him. 

 

“That’s so big. ” She moaned, hips shifting. “Fuck, it burns.”

 

“Torao, stop.” But Luffy pressed her closer, heart pounding in his chest. He wanted to shove it in. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

 

She shifted slightly, releasing her hold on his dick. Her hands pressed over his heart, nails slightly biting into his skin as she breathed raggedly above him. Luffy watched her face in wonder, thinking that she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his whole life. She wasn’t even squeezing his dick that hard. It felt so slick . If he thrusted his hips, he could bury himself inside of her.

 

But he had a feeling that he needed to let her handle it. 

 

But how long did she need?

 

Luffy kept his death grip on her hips for a steady ten minutes. Torao was slow, rocking her hips teasingly over the twitching head of Luffy’s dick. It was so hard to stay patient. It was almost hurting with how good her slick heat felt on him. He wanted more. His balls were tight and his hands were shaking on her hips.

 

“You gotta relax.” Luffy whispered shakily, feeling how tense she was. Torao let out a frustrated sigh.

 

“I’m trying.” She breathed. Luffy rubbed her sides and adjusted his legs, wincing slightly at the ache. 

 

“You’re doing really good.” He blurted. “So good. It feels really good.”

 

Torao moaned at that, another inch sinking into her. Luffy jerked slightly in surprise as the pleasure washed over him and she immediately stiffened. Luffy tried to pull out and she dug her nails into his chest. 

 

“Wait, wait.” She said, huffing out a breath. “I’m okay.”

 

“I'm not okay.” Luffy winced. “You’re gonna chop it off. Relax, Torao.”

 

“I am relaxing.” She snapped. Luffy slid one hand from her hip up her spine, pulling her harshly against his chest. She gasped but allowed the movement. Luffy planted his feet on the mattress and raised his knees, supporting her weight on his thighs. Her vice grip around the head of his cock released slightly and Luffy continued to rub her back in relief.  

 

“There you go.” He murmured. “I’ll take care of you. I would never hurt you.”

 

Torao shuddered and tucked her face against his neck, hands resting up near his head. Luffy grinned in triumph as he felt her relaxing. 

 

“Look at you.” He continued, running his nails lightly up and down her back. “I’m so lucky I got to meet you. You’re so beautiful, Torao.”

 

“Luffy-ya…” She moaned softly, flexing in a delicious way around his cock. “F- fuck .”

 

“There you go.” Luffy purred. “You’re so wet, huh? It’s leaking out. I bet you look all pretty taking me like this.”

 

Luffy didn’t know where the words were coming from but he knew that Torao really liked it. He lowered his hands to her ass again, very carefully sliding her down slightly on his shaft. She leaned heavily against him, knees digging into his hips. She wasn’t moving at all, nor was she protesting to Luffy’s movements. She was so tight around him and his cock wouldn’t stop pulsing. It was causing his arms to shake and he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to support her for much longer.

 

Luffy wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and turned them over, pressing her into the sheets. She immediately hid her face in the crook of her elbow, something Luffy didn’t want. He wanted to see her face. But he could deal with that after he was fully inside of her. 

 

Luffy pulled one of her legs around his hips and pressed into her slowly. She began to clench wildly around him, which he dealt with by rubbing her stomach and kissing her arm where she was hiding her face. He was clenching his teeth so hard he thought he would break off his filling. Her clenching eased up after a few seconds and he let out a breath of relief.

 

“Look at you.” Luffy murmured, thrusting shallowly into her. He was about halfway inside of her and it felt like he couldn’t go any further, but it was good enough for him. It felt so slick and tight. Torao was so pretty all flushed like that underneath him. He slid his hand from her stomach to her ass, pulling her closer. “Look at how pink you are.”

 

Torao let out a breathless huff, peeking at him from behind her arm. Luffy simply grinned at her, causing her to hide again. He nudged his face into the crook of her elbow so that he could kiss her parted lips. Torao was not able to kiss him, her tongue hanging out as she panted. Her other hand settled on his back, urging him to keep moving with soft presses. 

 

“Does it feel good?” Luffy asked her, biting her lip, which caused her to jerk. “It feels really good for me. I never did something like this. You make me want to do all sorts of things. I wanna bite you and suck you and, well, I wanna keep doing this to you over and over again.”

 

“Luffy-ya, go ahead.” Torao breathed. “I think I’m good. Go ahead. Faster.”

 

“Huh?” Luffy stuttered his hips at her confusing instructions. Torao tightened her hold on him. 

 

“Just go harder . Move your hips faster. Go deeper. And stop talking so much. Kiss me instead.”

 

Luffy gulped and adjusted his hand on the bed. He pushed his hips as far as they could go, fully sliding his dick inside of her. He parted his lips in surprise at the sudden tight warmth that enveloped him. She was so smooth inside and he wanted to be deeper. Pleasure shot him his body and he shivered, tightening his grip on her ass as he tried to push inside her even further. Torao flinched immediately, hands pushing at him. 

 

“Not that deep.” She gasped, wincing. Luffy thought that sex was so complicated for no reason. He thrusted again, but not as deep, biting his lip at how tight it was inside of her. Torao trembled underneath him, a long string of loud curses leaving her lips. Luffy froze, afraid he had hurt her, but the look she gave him told him otherwise. 

 

His body was about to burst. What was he supposed to do? He wanted her to feel good. He was afraid he was going to come already. Even though he couldn’t use his full length inside of her, it was still so good for him. He hoped she felt as good as he did. 

 

Through sheer willpower, he pistoned his hips into her as he pressed kisses to the corner of her mouth. Torao was loud, she was always loud, and Luffy was glad that she didn’t have roommates to hear her. She was so wet around him and so hot that he nearly exploded several times, having to shallow out his thrusts further, which Torao did not like. She would huff at him and pinch his skin, bite his neck and lick all over him. Luffy liked how sloppy she was. She was so sloppy. 

 

Luffy eventually couldn’t hold it any longer and gripped her harder as he drilled into her as deep as he could. Torao began to clench around him in a way that must have meant that she came, but her desperate clawing of his back and shifting of her legs could have told him that. That, or the loud screams and curses she was spouting off. Luffy kept going, feeling his own release looming before he pushed as deep as he could go and grunted as he exploded. Her soaked walls milked his dick in a way that had him nearly blacking out. It was almost too good. Luffy couldn’t maintain his thrusts, wondering if everything felt as good for her as it did for him. He lost control of his movements as he rode out his orgasm, filling her with everything he had. His heart pounded in his chest and in his ears. Everything felt so wet between them. He could feel everything.

 

Luffy flopped off of her as he caught his breath, wincing at the oversensitivity as his dick slid out of her. He wiped the sweat from his face and turned to look at Torao, who was breathing slowly and being very quiet. Luffy looked down at his still hard cock, noticing how creamy and slick it looked with interest. Was that from the both of them? After a few moments Torao turned her head as well to meet his eyes, lips parted. She looked almost dazed. 

 

“Did you like it?” Luffy asked hesitantly. Torao took a few deep breaths before the widest and sweetest smile that Luffy had ever seen on her face appeared. Luffy didn’t know where to look. Her beautiful eyes or her white teeth…

 

“You’re being embarrassing.” Torao said softly, smile dropping to a small upturn of lips. “Staring at me like that.”

 

Luffy grinned and rolled toward her, burying his face in her chest. She tsked at him but her hands landed on the back of his head affectionately, where she started playing with his hair. They settled into a sweet silence, basking in the afterglow of their intimate moment.

 

Luffy’s stomach growling killed that moment. It did provide Luffy with the opportunity to hear Torao laugh happily, which he wouldn’t change for the world. 

 

“Ah, we probably shouldn’t have done that without a condom.” She whispered after a few minutes. “I’ll take a contraceptive tomorrow.”

 

Luffy didn’t even know what that meant but pressed a sloppy kiss to her chest. 

 

And if they tangled around in the sheets another time before going back downstairs to eat, that was their business. 

 

###

Chapter 12: 12

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Luffy found himself unable to tear his eyes away from Torao after that. 

 

When had she gotten so beautiful? The lights from her kitchen seemed to illuminate her, as if she were the ultimate treasure at the end of a long, trying journey. How had he not had to fight countless suitors for her hand? It was unbelievable. Her hair was a mess, her makeup that he didn’t even realize she was wearing was smeared under her eyes, and her lips were slightly chapped, but to him, she was perfect. 

 

She was currently glaring at him. 

 

“Luffy-ya.” She snapped in a way that meant she had been talking to him for a while. Luffy blinked slowly. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

 

“Sorry.” He frowned deeply, looking down at his half eaten slice of what he assumed was tiramisu. But who had eaten half of it? “Torao, did you eat my cake?”

 

Torao rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, okay? I ate it. It’s really good and you’re letting it go to waste. Aren’t you hungry? I thought you were unable to be full.”

 

“I have a lot on my mind.” He muttered. Torao switched off her teasing jokes immediately and placed a hand on his arm. 

 

“Are you okay? Did I do something you weren’t comfortable with?”

 

Luffy looked up at her and pursed his lips. She always did that. Luffy didn’t want her to be so insecure. How could she do something he was uncomfortable with? That implied it was something he didn’t want to do, and he never did anything he didn’t want to do. It was annoying that she assumed that she could make him uncomfortable. 

 

Torao blinked at him patiently. He slowly looked down at the cake, which had another chunk missing, before fisting up the remainder of the slice in his hand. He quickly shoved it into his mouth and chewed slowly. It tasted kind of like those beans he had eaten earlier from her pantry. Why would she want an entire cake that tasted like that? Torao was so weird. 

 

She seemed personally offended by what he did and was gaping at him in disbelief. He swallowed before grinning at her. 

 

“You have chocolate in your teeth.” She told him with a roll of her eyes and a slightly pink face. Luffy proceeded to suck his teeth loudly and Torao tsked at him. 

 

“This cake sucks.” Luffy told her, wiping his hand on a pile of napkins in front of him. “Almost as gross as this one cherry pie I had before when I went on vacation with my friends a few months ago.”

 

“Huh? Why don’t you like it? Why did you eat it then?! I would have eaten it.” Torao took their dishes to her fancy sink. Luffy chewed his cheek in thought. He watched her scrub the residue of the cake from both of their too tiny plates as he licked the remainder of the bitter frosting from his hand. Who even used such tiny plates like that? 

 

And Torao had taken his shirt when they had gone downstairs, leaving Luffy shirtless. He admired how it looked so loose on her tiny frame. She was taller than him and yet she was so skinny . 

 

But she was so pretty to look at. 

 

“I can feel you staring at me.” Torao muttered without turning around. “What’s on your mind?”

 

“I was just thinking…” Luffy said finally, wiping his saliva-covered palm on his clothed thigh. “Torao is really pretty.”

 

Torao shut off the water and leaned over the sink for a moment before turning around. She looked almost apprehensive. 

 

“You aren’t just saying that?” She asked him. Luffy thought that was a dumb question. He had just said it and had been saying it for days. What else did he need to do?

 

“…Thank you.” Torao added, tucking her messy hair behind her ear. That caused Luffy to grin in triumph. Torao’s eyes flashed slightly and she smirked back at him. “I think you’re cute, Luffy-ya.”

 

Luffy sighed at her. He guessed he could accept her dumb compliment. After all, she had let him do a lot today. 

 

Luffy cursed himself as his mind went back to when they were upstairs. He felt his cock stirring with interest and surreptitiously covered it with his hand. Torao went back to what she was doing and Luffy tried to distract himself. 

 

But she looked so pretty as she washed the dishes. 

 

They ended up back in her room, snuggled close and leaned against the headboard of her bed as a movie played on the computer in the corner of her room. Luffy kept snickering because who could even see the computer that far away? Torao kept covering his mouth and shushing him and it made him laugh even harder. Bepo was curled on the floor next to the bed, snoring softly. 

 

“Torao, I can’t even see. ” Luffy said for the fifth time, narrowing his eyes at the tiny screen. “Who’s the girl?”

 

“That’s her mother, she thought she was dead.” Torao side eyed him before procuring a pair of frameless glasses from her bedside table. “If you laugh at me, I will kick you out of my bed.”

 

Luffy grinned with immediate interest. “Are you gonna wear those? Are you blind?” 

 

Torao narrowed her eyes before sliding the glasses on her face. “I’ll give you one more chance- are you fucking kidding me?”

 

Luffy had snorted so hard that he choked. She was an old nerd. And she looked like a librarian. Luffy coughed loudly until he was okay and then wiped a tear from his eye, all while Torao gave him an unamused look. 

 

Torao then offered a second pair of glasses to Luffy. He made a face and she rolled her eyes, wiggling them impatiently. Luffy took the black glasses and put them on, blinking as the screen came into focus. 

 

“Yeah, you make fun of me but you’re also fucking blind.” She muttered as she curled against his side and slid one arm around his waist, underneath his shirt that she had returned to him. She immediately rubbed his side and let out a soft sigh. Luffy continued to blink in wonder as he draped his arm around her back. He never knew that glasses were so helpful! He felt almost bad for laughing at Torao but, well… she did look funny. 

 

Luffy quickly grew distracted by his own chest. His heart had started beating strangely and he didn’t know why. It had been feeling funny ever since he had fucked her. And yes, he knew he had done that to her now. Torao had begged him for it after the first time and he had immediately understood.

 

Seeing Torao be normal was so strange. It felt as though he had known her for years, not months. She was so different in person than she had been on the computer and Luffy wondered if maybe he had had a crush on Torao all along…

 

Even when he had thought she was a man. 

 

Luffy tried to focus on the movie but his realization was so distracting. Almost as distracting as Torao’s touchy hands as she slid them all over his stomach. He felt his skin burn where she touched him. 

 

He wondered about his sexuality for the first time in his life. He thought of Zoro, and how his friend only preferred males. Did that mean he was like Zoro? But Torao had ended up being a girl… and he really liked her…

 

“I can hear you thinking.” Torao murmured against his chest. “Just spit it out.”

 

“I really like you.” Luffy blurted. “Even if you were a man.”

 

Torao sighed and paused the movie with her little remote and sat up. She pushed her glasses up her nose and gazed at him sternly. 

 

“Explain.” She ordered. Luffy shifted his lips as he tried to put his wild thoughts into words. 

 

“I think I liked you on the computer.” He said slowly. “Even though I thought you were a guy.”

 

Torao nodded, eyes moving to stare at the space to the left of him. “I see… and does that bother you?”

 

“Well, no… I don’t know. You turned out to be an old nerd lady but I mean, I’m okay with that. I like you more this way.”

 

Torao moved her golden eyes back to his and stared at him for a few moments. 

 

“Well, I can’t do anything about that.” Torao said, bringing her hand up to rub his scar under his eye. “But I’m glad I found you screwing around in that area of the game. Otherwise I’d be alone right now, watching this romcom and probably eating that entire tiramisu by myself.”

 

“That cake was small.” Luffy said immediately, closing his eyes as she kissed his lips. She hummed softly and pulled back to rub her nose against his. “And disgusting.” He added. Why was he breathless?

 

“Yeah? Let’s get some cake that you’ll like. Does that sound good?”

 

Luffy’s stomach rumbled. “Yeah, that sounds good. Fuck, are you gonna buy me food right now?” 

 

Torao chuckled. “Is that really gonna turn you on? Is this what it takes?”

 

Luffy grinned against her lips. “Nah, I don’t need anything to be ready to fuck you again. Just thinking about how tight and warm and wet you were gets me hard again. See?”

 

Torao stared at his lap with a neutral expression. Luffy’s stomach grumbled again and he groaned. He needed to eat now. 

 

“Let’s take a walk.” She said slowly. “Bepo needs to go out anyways. And there’s usually a food truck at the end of the street-”

 

“What kind of food?!” Luffy demanded loudly, causing Bepo to bark. Torao chuckled again and got onto her knees. She quickly moved one leg over both of his thighs and smirked down at him as she settled herself on his lap. Luffy placed his hands on her hips as she learned closer to lick his ear. 

 

“Barbecued meat.” She breathed. Luffy gasped in excitement, not even caring that Torao was now slobbering all over his neck. Her hands slid underneath his shirt and she felt over his skin with a featherlight touch. 

 

“Torao, the meat.” Luffy whined as she ground down on his lap. She shot him a sly smile as she removed her shirt. 

 

“I know. I’m getting it.” She shifted slightly to kick off her loose pants. Her words went right over his head just like

The first time as he felt his cock pulsating. He didn’t know if he was more excited at the prospect of eating barbecued meat or the possibility of getting to sink inside of Torao again. Her naked body was so enticing. He could stare at her tattoos all night if she’d let him. Maybe she’d let him stare at her while he ate an entire rack of ribs…

 

Luffy watched with creased eyebrows as she reached down to pull at the waistline of his shorts. His stomach growled again but Torao ignored it, pulling Luffy’s heavy cock from the confines of his clothes. She immediately let spit drip onto him and his breath skipped. He never thought he would enjoy being spit on.

 

Luffy suddenly felt torn. Torao was naked on his lap now. But he really wanted that barbecued meat. But Torao looked so good. But he wanted a large piece of meat or three with the bone in it so it was extra tender-

 

Torao didn’t wait before she sunk herself down on his cock to the hilt. Luffy grunted and gripped her hips in surprise. All thoughts of his juicy pieces of meat left his mind as he was engulfed in that tight warmth. He was glad that she wasn’t as tight as earlier because otherwise she might have hurt herself with her enthusiasm. But she was still so snug. Even after he had fucked her twice. Luffy felt tingles shoot up and down his body at the sudden assault of pleasure. He dug his fingers into the plush skin of her ass to hold her still.

 

But Torao had other plans.

 

Luffy could only sit there helplessly as she raised herself up and impaled herself on his cock again. Her eyes were screwed shut and her face was twisted in pleasure, lips slightly parted. Luffy could stare at her for hours like that and it was almost overwhelming to him how absolutely beautiful she looked. Her cheeks were so pink already and she looked so pretty, even with her little glasses perched crookedly on her nose . Her hands were resting on his forearms, her eyebrows slightly creased as she took her own pleasure from him. Luffy felt as though he was going to blow already, the snug grip of her pussy almost too much from that position. He felt himself sliding so deep inside of her. 

 

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the woman on his lap and moved them down to where they were connected, moaning softly at the view of her speared on him. She was paler than he was, though she was dusted with thick black hairs while Luffy had very fine, thin hairs. Her inner lips were slightly dark and caused his mouth to water as he watched how they stretched around him. He could also see her piercing reflecting with every thrust and resisted the urge to touch it. Every time she lifted herself off of him, it looked as though her body didn’t want to let him go, and he could see her gripping him with her very pink walls. He was mesmerized. 

 

It must have been because he had come twice already, but his cock managed to withstand her incessant teasing. She had adjusted herself to her knees and was fucking herself on just the head of his weeping dick. Luffy still had a grip on her ass and was guiding her slowly, trying to urge her to just sit on it again, but she was very adamant about fucking herself on the head. Torao then pressed against his chest, her hands coming up to frame his face as she sloppily claimed his lips in an open-mouth kiss. She knocked the glasses off of his face and they were discarded somewhere on her blanket. Luffy took control from her and began to thrust up into her, sliding himself deep and fast. She gasped against his mouth, her tongue becoming more demanding the harder he fucked her.

 

She began to tremble. One of her hands slipped between them and Luffy caught her wrist. He pushed her hand away and finally, finally began rubbing his fingers against her piercing, spreading them to rub either side of it. Torao went rigid and let out a desperate cry. Luffy strained his hips to continue to fuck up into her as her climax overtook her. He rubbed slowly against that spot right beneath her piercing, which had her nearly biting his lip off. 

 

Luffy wasn’t even close to finishing. 

 

Torao’s legs shook on either side of his and he gripped her tightly to help support her. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, breathing raggedly. Luffy wasn’t sure if he should keep going or if she needed a break. 

 

“Just…stay still.” She murmured. “Just for a bit…”

 

Luffy nodded slowly, cock pulsing almost tauntingly. 

 

Luffy managed to hold still for all of five minutes before his short nails were digging into her ass painfully. Torao was very still and very quiet. Was she asleep? He didn’t know. All he knew was that his cock was still rigid. His balls were aching for release. It was the ultimate tease, her snug warmth around him. He was going to go numb unless he did something. He needed to come. 

 

He bit his lip and gently began to rock into her. The pleasure that exploded up his shaft and to his belly was almost overwhelming. He tried his best to be subtle and quiet but it was very difficult. She felt too good. He parted his lips and creased his eyebrows, sharp breaths escaping his mouth with each thrust. 

 

Torao’s lips were peppering small kisses against his jaw so he knew she was aware of what he was doing. Plus with his dick pulsing so much inside of her, it would be impossible for her to not know his intentions. 

 

Luffy’s hips twitched and he pushed deep, unable to hold his release. He painted her insides with a soft gasp, moving her on his shaft to prolong his climax. He could feel his balls pulsing to the beat of his heart, which hammered in his chest. His forearms ached because of how firmly he had been holding her ass. 

 

He loved fucking her. 

 

Torao stayed on his lap until his cock grew too soft to keep inside of her. She sighed almost sadly and raised herself up on her knees. Luffy slipped out of her and let out a breath of relief. It would have been too sensitive to stay inside of her any longer. 

 

Torao didn’t get off of him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his back and pressed her cheek to his chest. Luffy felt hot and sticky and he needed to pee, but Torao was clingy and he knew she needed it. 

 

“The movie sucks.” Luffy said after a while of silence. Torao chuckled tiredly against his skin. 

 

“It’s nostalgic.” She murmured. “I love these stupid-ass movies. I used to watch them with my uncle.”

 

Luffy’s throat felt tight at the use of her words. He didn’t understand it until he remembered that her uncle was gone. He burned with curiosity and opened his mouth to ask, but the thought of someone asking about Ace struck him in the heart painfully. She would tell him when she was ready.

 

His stomach suddenly growled again and he groaned. He had forgotten how hungry he was. Torao sat up slowly, blinking at him before yawning. She removed her glasses and retrieved his discarded ones from the bed and safely set them on her nightstand. 

 

“Let’s get your meat.” She said, moving off of him. Luffy watched in amusement as her legs were unable to support her. She leaned heavily against the side of the bed with a frustrated sigh. Luffy jumped up with a grin, wrapping his arms all around her sweaty body. She protested weakly but allowed him to carry her to the bathroom. 

 

Luffy wanted to use the fancy looking bathtub but Torao insisted that they were in a rush. Bepo had begun to whine and bark at them and Luffy’s stomach was rumbling painfully. They showered in her separate shower, which Luffy thought was super snobby, washing each other as quickly as possible. Torao didn’t let his hands linger on her body but she definitely took too long washing his dick. Luffy pinned her against the wall and she glared at him as he scrubbed her shampoo into her hair. She reached up to scrub his own head before they rinsed off, avoiding eye contact and saying nothing about their pink faces that were not due to the shower steam. 

 

They dried off quickly before dressing in fresh clothes. Luffy managed to fit into a pair of black cotton shorts that Torao said either Penguin or Shachi had left over at one point, much to his distaste. He also ended up in one of Torao’s oversized t-shirts, as his shirt was covered in saliva and other fluids. He snickered at the tiny embroidered monkey on his breast pocket, tracing his fingers over it. She rolled her eyes and dressed normal for once in a pair of leggings and a gray sweater from her nerd school, UGLS embroidered across the chest.

 

Luffy bounced on his heels as he watched Torao put Bepo into some sort of red harness. She clicked a few buckles before standing up slowly, still wobbly. She then led the way downstairs and Luffy continued to trace the tiny monkey on his blue shirt with his finger. It felt so funny to him and he thought it looked so cute. 

 

Torao slipped her bare feet into an ugly pair of what looked like bright yellow rubber shoes with little holes all over them. Luffy stared for a while before finally snorting with laughter. Of course she had shoes like that. 

 

“Are you laughing at my Crocs?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. “Go ahead and laugh. I’ll buy you a pair and you’ll be sorry.”

 

After Luffy slipped on his sandals and Torao grabbed her wallet, they left her condo. It was slightly chilly outside and Luffy hugged himself tightly. Torao locked her door and led the way toward the entrance of her fancy complex. Bepo excitedly smelled everything on the way and Torao managed to look extremely grumpy the entire time. 

 

“Why are you so grumpy?” Luffy teased her, rubbing his arms to warm up. “Need another dicking?”

 

“A what?” Torao stammered immediately, cheeks turning pink and she glanced at him in surprise. “What did you call it?”

 

Luffy grinned. “A dicking!”

 

Torao shook her head but said nothing. Luffy grinned even wider, staring at her cute face. She did want it again. He could tell. 

 

The food truck was very busy when they arrived, much to Torao’s annoyance. She scowled so hard that a nearby child whimpered, which caused Luffy to cackle. Torao simply glared at each and every child standing near her until they scampered away. The parents made disgusted faces that Luffy simply grinned at. How had he gotten so lucky?

 

Luffy excitedly looked at the menu, Bepo’s leash grasped in his hand, as Torao stood in the line. 

 

“I don’t know why you’re even looking at the menu.” She muttered. Luffy pouted at her and Bepo whined. Torao met his eyes. “We can get one of everything.”

 

“One of everything?!” Luffy demanded, dragging Bepo over to her and gripping her arms frantically, which drew the attention of multiple people around them. “There’s more than six things on the menu!”

 

Torao gave him a slightly annoyed look. “Yeah, I want to… spoil you.”

 

Luffy gaped at her. Never had he heard such amazing words in his life . 

 

Torao seemed to expect some sort of outburst and she quickly shushed him. Luffy nearly vibrated with excitement and glanced over at the menu to count how many items were on it. He squinted as much as possible and Torao leaned against his side, fingers gripping the back of his shirt. Clingy. 

 

The food ended up being very expensive. The staff didn’t look too excited about having to prepare two of everything on their menu, but Torao flashing her shiny, crisp bills changed their expressions immediately. 

 

They sat at a nearby picnic table while they waited for their food, which, according to the cashier, would take over thirty minutes to prepare. 

 

Luffy found his eyes on Torao again as she gazed off into the distance. Her skin looked so clean and soft after the shower, her dark hair slightly wavy, and he found his eyes locked onto her cute nose. Bepo sniffed around under the table before knocking his head into Luffy’s thigh. Luffy patted his soft fur before licking his lips. The air around them was thick with the scent of grilled meat and Luffy was surprised that his mouth wasn’t continuously leaking drool. His stomach was growling happily, anticipating his grand meal. 

 

Torao shifted, resting her face on her hand. She suddenly met his eyes, catching his stare.

 

“There’s a really good bakery across the street.” She murmured. “What kind of sweets do you like?”

 

Luffy thought for a second. “Anything really. Maybe not coffee-flavored.” 

 

Torao stood up with a soft smirk. “I’m going to run over there and get something for us. You mind watching Bepo?”

 

Luffy nodded and Torao pressed a kiss to his cheek before walking toward the street.

 

Luffy gently patted Bepo again and looked over to the food truck. Smoke was billowing out of the windows and Luffy just knew they were making his food extra good. Maybe with extra sauce. 

 

Luffy was so distracted that he didn’t notice someone had sat at the table with him. 

 

“You with Trafalgar?” A gruff voice asked. Luffy frowned and moved his eyes to his table mate. He was a burly-looking guy with spiked red hair and a wide, dangerous-looking grin. Bepo whined and flopped onto the ground. 

 

“With Lauren.” The guy explained, gesturing to the street. Luffy smiled widely once he realized who he was talking about. 

 

“Oh, yes. We are hanging out.” He said cheerfully. “Are you her friend?”

 

The guy chuckled and rested his hands on the table. Luffy tried not to stare at his left arm, which was mostly made of metal. “Nah, I ain’t friends with her. I just saw you guys lookin’ all chummy and thought I’d give you a warning.”

 

Luffy frowned. What did ‘chummy’ mean?

 

The guy grinned again. “I dated her for a bit, a few years back. She’s a real fuckin’ piece of work. She’s a real dick. Don’t get your hopes up. You won’t get far with her unless you take it from her, you know what I mean?”

 

Luffy kept frowning at the man, the dots slowly connecting in his head. This guy must have been the one who had forced Torao to…

 

Luffy didn’t like him at all. 

 

“You’re really annoying.” He told him. “Please go away.”

 

But the man simply grinned wider. “Struck a nerve, huh? How long have you been pining after that piece of ass? It really isn’t worth it.”

 

“Go away, I said.” Luffy repeated, feeling his anger spiking. “Or I’ll kick your ass.”

 

The audience that Luffy didn’t even realize they had began to laugh. The red-haired guy stood up with an even wider grin. He towered over Luffy and continued to stare down at him with that wide grin.

 

“Oh, yeah? You tryin’ to pick a fight with me, small fry?” The guy cracked his knuckles.

 

Luffy stood up as well, glaring. Bepo whined. “Don’t say things about Torao anymore.” He said in a low voice. “You should get out of here.”

 

Torao chose that moment to return, her steps slowing down as she neared the table. “Eustass-ya.” She murmured uncomfortably, gripping the white box she was holding in her hands so tightly that it crinkled. Luffy noticed that she had that same look on her face as when her friends had brought up her trauma. He never wanted to see that look on her face again. It caused his anger to boil even more. 

 

The Eustass guy let out a laugh. “Oh, wow, baby, you just keep getting hotter, don’t you? It’s a shame that you’re such a fucking bitch.” Torao stiffened and Eustass stepped closer to her. Luffy dropped Bepo’s leash and hurried around the table to step between them. 

 

“Go away.” He said immediately, glaring up at him. “You’re annoying.”

 

“Seriously, who the fuck is this guy? This is my replacement? This short stack?” Eustass’ friends laughed and Luffy narrowed his eyes. He fisted up his hand tightly. 

 

“You heard me.” Luffy said in a low voice. He felt livid. He wanted to slam that guy's face into the table. He wanted to rip off his metal arm and beat him with it. He wanted to-

 

Eustass made the mistake of reaching up to shove Luffy away. Luffy didn’t budge and immediately wound back his fist. He brought it forward as hard as he could, connected with a loud crack in the center of Eustass’ face. Blood exploded from around his fist as his arm erupted in pain that he ignored. Eustass hit the gravel as Luffy gripped his forearm with his other hand to steady himself. He didn’t know if the blood on his fist was from Eustass or from his skin splitting. All he knew was that he had warned him and he had not been joking. 

 

No one bad mouthed Torao in front of him. 

 

“Let’s get the fuck out of here!” One of Eustass’ friends yelled. “That kid is a fucking psycho!”

 

“I’ll fucking kill you.” Eustass spat, blood leaking from his nose and his mouth. His eyes streamed tears and his voice turned whiny. “I’ll fucking find out who you are and I’ll fucking murder you-”

 

“My name is Monkey D. Luffy.” Luffy said, flexing his hand as feeling returned to his fingers. “I told you I would kick your ass.”

 

“Might want to get that checked out.” Torao said from Luffy’s right side, a sneer on her face. “Though you might look better if it heals like that.”

 

Eustass and his goonies scrambled away, shouting insults and derogatory terms as they ran down the street. Torao sighed in irritation and gave Luffy a hard look. 

 

“Thank you.” She said suddenly, surging forward and throwing her arms around him. Luffy stood there in surprise for a moment before resting a hand against the small of her back. She was trembling.

 

“I don’t like that guy.” Luffy muttered. “You dated him? Really?”

 

Torao scoffed and stepped back, clutching her box to her chest. “And who have you dated before?”

 

“No one! Dating is so… boring. But I like dating Torao.”

 

Torao rolled her eyes and knelt down to lift Bepo’s leash. “Good job watching my dog, by the way. He could have run away.”

 

Bepo was looking increíble guilty as he hung his head. Luffy gestured to him. 

 

“He wasn’t gonna run away. Look at him.”

 

“He looks pretty miserable, doesn’t he?” Torao quickly turned as the food truck announced her name, handing Bepo’s leash to Luffy. 

 

“Order for Lauren!”

 

Luffy was hit with a sense of nostalgia and thought briefly to the coffee shop. Had that really only been a few days ago? His mouth watered as he watched Torao walk up to the back of the truck and accept several large paper bags. 

 

“Thank you.” She said stiffly before turning to Luffy. She cocked her head slightly. “Let’s get back.”

 

The walk back to the condo was quiet. Luffy hummed to himself as he walked Bepo, allowing the dog to smell any and everything he came across, much to the annoyance of Torao. 

 

“Bepo, let’s go.” She snapped for the fifth time. Bepo whined again and walked slowly, seemingly sad. Luffy continued to pull him along, looking at Torao as she carried his food. 

 

“Do you like being called Lauren?” He asked her as they neared the gated entrance to her condo complex. Torao snorted at his question, looking stupid as she walked in her Crocs. 

 

“I mean, it’s my name.” She muttered. “I guess I never really cared enough to have an opinion of it. ‘Law’ is shorter and easier to remember. I dunno. I’ve always gone by ‘Law’. Only as a career-driven adult have I been called ‘Lauren’.”

 

“You told those people that was your name.” Luffy said, frowning. “And the people at the coffee shop.”

 

“You’re right. I think it’s just natural for me. What, are you wanting to call me by my actual name now?”

 

“Nah. I like ‘Torao’.” Luffy snickered. Torao rolled her eyes. 

 

The condo was exactly as they left it and Luffy hurriedly rushed to the kitchen to get some plates and cutlery. Torao set the food on the coffee table and began to open the bags as Bepo ran off to wherever his favorite spot was to hang out. Luffy brought the plates and utensils to the living room and grinned widely, noticing how Torao always seemed to want to watch something while she ate. The TV was already set on a paused movie. He grumbled slightly as Torao made him wash his hands. 

 

They settled on the couch and Luffy didn’t even get mad that she didn’t want to eat any of the meat. She simply had the box of cakes on her lap and a large spoon in her hand. Luffy examined the contents of the box with pursed lips. He recognized the coffee cake immediately and knew he would avoid that one. Another cake had bright red strawberries and fluffy cream on the top. The other two cakes were very similar and boring-looking and Luffy turned his attention back to his large turkey leg, uninterested. 

 

Luffy managed to eat through almost the entire order of meat before Torao said something.

 

“Aren’t you full? Please don’t vomit on the floor.”

 

Luffy simply chewed with a wide smile, earning a groan of distaste from her. He ate beef ribs and prime rib and shredded chicken covered with spicy barbecue sauce and two giant turkey legs and some other meat with tiny circular bones as well as juicy chicken thighs and pork loin. Skirt steak and ribeye and pork belly… Luffy slouched heavily and licked his lips. He was full. 

 

Torao leaned against his side and continued to slowly eat through nearly the entire box of cakes. She offered him a bite of the strawberry cake with her spoon and Luffy accepted happily, as his stomach had a separate space reserved solely for desserts. The sweet flavor of the strawberries and the refreshing fluffiness of the cream exploded on his tongue and he hummed in delight. Torao chuckled softly. 

 

“I thought you were full.” She said. Luffy grinned. 

 

“I thought you were a doctor, Torao. You should know there is always room for dessert.”

 

Torao was suspiciously quiet before she suddenly burst out laughing. The sound was so different than he was used to and he found himself wanting to hear it more. He could definitely get used to her company. 

 

“Want to stay the night?” She suddenly murmured. Luffy’s heart skipped a beat and he nodded before he even thought about it. His friends were annoying him anyway. And being able to snuggle with Torao? It filled him with excitement about what else could possibly happen. 

 

###

Chapter 13: 13

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Luffy and Torao slept in the next morning. It was mid-morning when he felt her shifting next to him. He opened his eyes, glad that her room was so dark so that he wouldn’t be blinded by the sun. Torao was on her stomach and her face was on his chest. He felt the wetness of her drool and couldn’t help the endearing grin that spread across his lips. He spent a few moments admiring her soft features.

 

“Good morning.” Torao muttered a few moments later, sounding so grumpy. Luffy reached up to smooth her hair and trace her nose, which made her crinkle her face. 

 

“Morning.” He responded. “You drooled all over me again.”

 

Torao sat up and wiped her cheek. She then messily wiped the drying drool off of his chest, which tickled slightly. 

 

“You hungry?” She asked before yawning. Luffy’s eyes drifted down to her bare breasts. His stomach grumbled on queue at the mention of eating. “I know the answer to that. I’m hungry, too. Let’s go to breakfast.”

 

“You should buy groceries.” Luffy told her, sitting up. He folded his legs underneath himself before reaching out to cup her breasts with both hands. He ran his thumbs over her nipples, causing Torao to breathe out in contentment. 

 

He then shoved her onto her back and buried his face between her thighs, though she didn’t complain one bit as soon as his tongue was inside of her. 

 

Luffy pouted as Torao made them shower again. He hadn’t even put it in! Who even showered so often?! He had just showered the night before! They didn’t use the bathtub again and he glared at her the entire time. She rolled her eyes and dropped to her knees, which made Luffy forget everything he was upset about as soon as her mouth was on him. 

 

Torao then got ready and allowed Luffy to lounge on her freshly stripped mattress and observe her while only wearing a towel. His eyes greedily raked over each curve she had, memorizing every line of black ink and every jut of bone. Luffy assumed she was like him and could eat whatever she wanted without gaining any weight, judging by the amount of rice and cake she had consumed the previous day, which he was slightly concerned about, but pushed away. She didn’t need him to fix her, as Zoro had told him. 

 

The thought of Zoro caused Luffy to feel annoyed. He quickly stopped thinking and just observed Torao as she pulled on a strappy bra. He kicked his legs and hummed out loud, watching as Bepo stalked into the room. 

 

“I’m quite hungry.” Torao muttered as she pulled on a black shirt. “You take a lot of my energy, Luffy-ya.”

 

“Good.” Luffy snickered, sitting up and crossing his legs on her bed. “I’m gonna make sure you’re always hungry, then. Come here.”

 

She gave him a frantic look, reading between the lines. “Luffy-ya, I’m sore. I haven’t had sex in over five years and you just went crazy on me.”

 

Luffy frowned at that. Of course he assumed that Torao had been sexually active before, but hearing about it caused his stomach to twist uncontrollably. Luffy did not particularly enjoy that feeling because he did not like feeling insecure. 

 

But what could he possibly be insecure about? 

 

Torao pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans with spots covering them. He preferred it to her ripped jeans but even that thought couldn’t overcome his feeling of insecurity. 

 

“I have another few articles of clothing from my friends.” She explained as she bent over to pull a small bin from underneath her dresser. “They’re always leaving their shit here when they stay over. You can probably find something that fits you here while I put on some makeup-”

 

“You liked it, right?” Luffy blurted, drawing her attention. He scratched the back of his head once her golden eyes were on him. “Um, the, uh, sex. You liked it?”

 

Torao stood up straight slowly, giving him an unsettling frown. “Did I like having sex with you?” She repeated, moving closer to him. Luffy chewed his lip as she approached. 

 

“Yeah. You’ve had sex with other people. So, I’m just asking… if you liked it. With me.”

 

Torao stepped up to him and looked down at him with a chilling gaze. Luffy gulped. Did he say something wrong? Was she mad at him? She brushed a lock of her wet hair behind her ear. It was drying and getting slightly poofy, which would be funny under different circumstances. Torao finally sighed with a look of defeat.

 

“Luffy-ya.” She said to him with a strained voice, reaching up to place her hands on his shoulders. “I’ve only had sex one time before last night. And you know how that turned out. I don’t really count that as my first time, and it can hardly even be called ‘sex’. So of course I liked what we did. I consented to it and you were quite enthusiastic. A little too sweet , but, well, we can fix that with practice.” She then smirked at him. Luffy felt relief flood his body and he grinned confidently at her. 

 

She had liked it. Which meant he would get to do it again. 

 

His cock jumped excitedly and he opened his mouth to proposition her but she seemed to know what he wanted and gave him a stern look as she squeezed his shoulders hard.

 

“I said I’m sore. No.”

 

Luffy simply pouted but as far as he knew, no meant no.

 

Torao patted his cheek before moving back toward the small bin she had been going through. “Like I said, feel free to wear any of these clothes. I’m going to try to tame my hair.”

 

Luffy left the towel on Torao’s bed and jumped across her room to kneel in front of the bin. He looked through the many different shirts and shorts with pursed lips, glancing up toward the bathroom as he heard a whooshing noise. 

 

Luffy decided on a plain green shirt and a surprisingly nice pair of jeans. He pulled them on with no underwear because he was not going to even try to wear those idiots’ underwear. After he tugged on the shirt, which was a little snug, but otherwise fine, he made his way to the bathroom to watch Torao. He adjusted himself in the jeans a few times until he was in a more comfortable position. 

 

Torao was painting her face with something when he leaned against the doorway. She made eye contact with him through the mirror. 

 

“Cute.” She murmured, closing a tiny little container in her hand. “I’m about ready. I just need to take Bepo out before we go.”

 

“I’ll do it!” Luffy said excitedly, turning without waiting for her to say anything. “C’mon, Bepo! Let’s go outside!”

 

Bepo appeared from somewhere and barked excitedly, following Luffy down the stairs. Luffy located the harness from the counter in the kitchen and frowned at it. How did it work? He knew that Torao had clicked it several times…

 

He shrugged and dropped to his knees to dress the poor dog, who was eyeing him with caution. Luffy stuck his tongue out in concentration as he looped the flaps around the dog’s front legs, buckling one up. The other one caused Bepo to whine, as he captured some of his fur, but Luffy quickly shushed him and redid it. He stood up with accomplishment as he gazed down at the harnessed animal. 

 

“Let’s go outside.” He said again. He pulled the excited dog to the front door and unlocked it before pulling it open. 

 

He nearly tripped on a few boxes in front of the door and simply pushed them into the condo with his bare foot. Where were his sandals? He shrugged and ventured outside barefoot. It would only be for a second.

 

The grass was incredibly damp on his feet, causing him to shiver. He gazed around the complex with mild interest, taking in all of the sounds of nature. He vaguely heard running water and wondered if there was a swimming pool. The air was crisp and the sky was blue, something that made Luffy smile. He preferred warm days over cold, rainy ones anytime!

 

Bepo needed to smell everything again and seemed to only want to walk in the most wet areas of the grass. Luffy pulled the leash as he tried to walk onto a path that was paved with tiny stones. 

 

“Bepo, just pee there.” Luffy told him sternly, causing the dog to look down almost apologetically. Luffy tugged him impatiently and nearly sighed in relief as the dog lifted his leg to pee. 

 

He skipped back to Torao’s condo afterwards, Bepo running alongside him. He hesitated at the door, because how was he supposed to dry his feet? Bepo apparently felt the same way because they both stood in the doorway awkwardly with the door wide open.

 

Luckily, Torao was in the living room opening the boxes that Luffy had kicked into the condo. 

 

“Have you seen my sandals?” Luffy called to her. “Also, we are a little wet…”

 

“Oh, you lost your sandals? That’s a real shame, Luffy-ya.” Torao sounded like she was laughing. Luffy did not like that. He held onto the doorway and pushed his body forward, trying to see what she was doing. 

 

She approached him a few moments later, holding the ugliest pair of stupid shoes he had ever seen. They were red and they were- they had a tiny pirate ship on them. He wanted them. 

 

“Told you I would get you some.” Torao said with a smirk. “Red seemed like a good option. Here you go.”

 

Maybe the Crocs weren’t that bad. Luffy slipped his slightly damp feet into them and wiggled his toes, causing them to squeak loudly. Torao rolled her eyes but didn’t stop smiling. He met her eyes. 

 

“I like them.” He said honestly. “Thank you.”

 

“You’re too cute, Luffy-ya. What am I supposed to do with you?”

 

“I have an idea.” He said immediately, earning his favorite scowl. She didn’t dignify him with an answer and quickly unharnessed Bepo. 

 

The walk to her fancy car was very short. Luffy waved at several people on the way, who gaped at him in surprise. He assumed that Torao was glaring at them like she probably usually did. But they didn’t know her like he did. She was actually nice.

 

Luffy got into her car and immediately started messing with the stereo. Torao swatted his hand away with an offended look. 

 

“It’s too quiet.” He said. “Put some music on!”

 

“The diner is literally a five minute drive.” Torao defended. Luffy crossed his arms. 

 

“You better talk to me those entire five minutes then!”

 

Torao clenched her teeth as she turned on the radio. She set the volume on some pop music station and shot Luffy a death glare as he tried to turn it up. Luffy placed one hand on her thigh and grinned. It was so fun to pick on her. 

 

The diner was indeed close by. Torao parked on the street and Luffy threw open the door, nearly hitting a pedestrian who immediately cursed at him. Torao grabbed the front of Luffy’s shirt before he could get out of the car, causing him to lose his hold on the door. It slowly swung closed. 

 

“I want a kiss.” She murmured before kissing him hard on the lips. Luffy melted against the seat and felt tiny tingles exploding through his chest. They unfortunately shot down to his stomach and then down further. At that point, he needed to pull away from the kiss. Torao huffed at him and tried to kiss him again.

 

“Torao, I can’t.” He said immediately, pushing her back with his hand on her sternum. “You can’t just kiss me like that. Wait until we are alone.”

 

“Huh?” Torao frowned at him, looking extremely irritated. “We are alone. We are in my car!”

 

“Torao, no.” Luffy glared at her and shifted his dick in the jeans. “You just don’t get it.”

 

She looked at his lap in surprise. “Are you kidding me? You’re hard right now?”

 

“The kiss.” Luffy explained, cheeks flushing. He shifted his legs uncomfortably. “It was really good.”

 

“What did I get myself into?” Torao muttered to herself as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “It’s because you’re so young. It has to be.”

 

She got out of the car without another word. Luffy hurriedly followed suit. He then pressed the front of his body against the car with a frantic look. How could he have forgotten?! 

 

Torao shot him an amused look and leaned against her hood. She whistled some unfamiliar tune that had Luffy feeling so rushed. His dick pulsed tauntingly and he glared at her. She knew what she was doing. 

 

Well, she was going to get it later. 

 

Luffy breathed a sigh of relief as his dick finally calmed down enough to be able to walk without drawing attention. It only took seven minutes. He moved over to Torao and leaned close, narrowing his eyes. 

 

“You'll pay for this, Law. ” He said threateningly. It had a different effect than he intended and Torao’s face suddenly burst into a deep flush. Luffy left her sputtering as he made his way to the front door of the diner. He pulled open the door and looked at her, waiting. She ran her fingers through her hair before quickly walking toward him and through the doorway.

 

Breakfast was very tense. The diner was busy with the late breakfast and early lunch crowd, the clinking of dishes and light chatter a nice background for the stare down. Luffy sat across from Torao in a brightly-colored booth with a single glass or orange juice between them. The coffee was on its way. 

 

“No.” She told him again. Luffy glared at her. 

 

“It’s payback.” He responded to her. “For what you did.”

 

Torao glanced around before lowering her voice. “I only kissed you.” She said. “The rest is your own problem. I’m too sore for anything else.”

 

Luffy quickly downed the glass of orange juice and stuck his tongue out at her, which earned a surprised look. Luffy felt a deep satisfaction that he could so easily get under her skin. He didn’t really mind what had happened in her car. As far as he knew, as soon as she had come onto his life, his dick started reacting to everything she did . Even staring at her across from him was interesting to him. He could feel how his cock was resting, half hard, in his borrowed jeans. He reached down and adjusted it so that it had space to grow. He really liked staring at her. 

 

The coffee arrived and Luffy took it upon himself to pour it into her mug. He splashed the table slightly and stuck out his tongue in concentration. Why was the pot so annoying to pour out of? He placed it back onto the wooden table before grabbing a napkin from the dispenser nearby and wiping up the mess. Torao wordlessly pulled the mug toward her and took a large drink, ignoring the little tray of milks and sweeteners that the waiter had left on the table. 

 

Luffy slipped his slightly sweaty feet out of his new shoes and stretched his legs out until he could rest his feet on Torao’s lap. She shot him an icy glare but didn’t push him away. She simply set down her mug, glanced at her lap, and smirked. 

 

“Very cute toes.” She said softly. “Everything about you is cute, Luffy-ya.”

 

Luffy glared at her. “Oh, yeah? Well, everything about you is cute, too. You’re the cutest person I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

 

Torao blinked at him before averting her eyes. He didn’t miss the blush that grazed her cheeks.

 

The waiter returned with more orange juice, which was nice. He gestured to their unopened menus. 

 

“Have you decided what you’d like to eat?” He asked. “I would love to offer my recommendation of the pancakes. They are truly divine.”

 

Torao opened her menu and quickly scanned it. “I’ll have the strawberry Greek yogurt parfait with extra coconut. And a side of scrambled eggs with no cheese.”

 

Luffy thought that was very boring. 

 

“Could I also have a side of potatoes? The ones with the peppers.” Torao added at the last minute. That caused Luffy to grin.

 

“Of course, my dear.” The waiter said with a bright smile to her. That caused Luffy to feel a spike of something in his chest. The waiter then looked at him with a bored expression. “And for you?”

 

Luffy opened his own menu and examined the bright pictures of the breakfast items. There were pancakes and waffles and toasts and eggs and hash browns… anything he could imagine was on the menu. 

 

He quickly pointed to the meat lover’s omelet. “This.” He said. The waiter peered over and nodded. 

 

“Okay. And what side would you like?”

 

“Side? Uh…” Luffy frowned. Torao rubbed his bare ankle slightly with her hand. 

 

“Try the potatoes.” She encouraged. “You’ll like them.”

 

“Okay.” He agreed. He looked up at the waiter. “Potatoes, then.”

 

“And what kind of toast?”

 

“Uh, surprise me.” Luffy closed his menu. Torao closed her own with a slight smirk. The waiter cast her one other look before leaving them alone. Luffy immediately met Torao’s golden eyes across the table. 

 

“Let’s call a truce.” He told her. “About the car situation. Another more important problem has come up.”

 

Torao snorted. “Okay. Truce. What’s up?”

 

Luffy lowered his voice. “The waiter. I think he thinks you’re pretty.”

 

Torao’s smirk didn’t waver. “Oh? Does he? How do you know?”

 

“I can tell, and you are pretty. Everyone in here probably thinks it.”

 

Torao began to blush again. Luffy looked around and huffed. He did not want that waiter to get the wrong idea-

 

Torao pushed Luffy’s feet off of her lap. Luffy was about to protest but she stood up from her spot and moved around the table before sliding into the booth next to him. Her hip gently nudged his. 

 

“Scoot over.” She murmured. “I want to sit next to you.”

 

Luffy scooted over. Torao adjusted herself before reaching across the table to bring her mug closer to her. She lifted it and took another deep drink. She then placed the empty mug in front of Luffy. He immediately grabbed the pot again and refilled her mug. 

 

“You want to try it?” Torao asked softly. Luffy shook his head, the strong smell curling in his nose. Torao smiled and reached across the table to pull another mug toward her. “I can make it sweet for you.”

 

“Sweet? Like chocolate?” Luffy’s mouth watered slightly. Torao smiled and nodded before grabbing the pot of coffee herself. She filled the new mug halfway before setting it down back on the table. She then pulled the small plate of creamers toward her. 

 

Luffy watched her mix together several different creamers with a tiny spoon, almost like a witch’s brew. She then pushed the mug toward Luffy. He looked inside of it, noticing that the liquid was no longer black and was instead a very light cream color. He sniffed it apprehensively before lifting the mug to take a sip. Sweetness exploded on his tongue and he made a pleased noise. He downed the entire mug. There was a slight flavor of something there…

 

Torao wordlessly made him another coffee. Luffy’s eyelid twitched slightly. He began to kick his leg incessantly. 

 

The food arrived and Luffy marveled at how pretty it all looked. His plate was packed to the brim with potatoes and his meaty omelet, nearly overflowing into the table. Torao’s own yogurt even looked appetizing. She had so many tiny bowls in front of her. She pushed a plate of toast to Luffy and then pulled her eggs closer. 

 

“You don’t want any?” Luffy asked immediately, grabbing a slice of the toast. Torao shook her head. 

 

“No, I don’t really like bread.” She explained. Luffy shrugged and shoved the entire slice into his mouth, earning a slap on his arm. 

 

He then made an effort to eat slower. He didn’t know why it even mattered, but he didn’t want Torao to be upset. He liked when she was smiling. 

 

The waiter did not seem happy about the change of seating arrangement and Luffy quickly found out that he liked to bother the waiter. He was so annoying. Why was he trying to talk to Torao so much? Luffy slid his arm around her waist, which caused her to sputter and blush. It made the waiter so mad! Torao was also so warm and fun to make nervous. Why was she being so awkward? Luffy pressed a sloppy kiss to her cheek and Torao let out what sounded like a whine. The waiter snapped his clipboard in half. 

 

“Luffy-ya.” Torao whispered, turning to press her face into his shoulder. “You’re being so…”

 

“It’s okay, Law. ” Luffy whispered, snickering as she stiffened against him. He held her waist slightly tighter. “I’ll take good care of you when we get back to your fancy condo.”

 

He expected her to say the same thing she had been saying all day, that she was too sore . But she surprised him by whispering “alright” in the smallest voice he had ever heard.

 

They finished breakfast with their tension dissipated. Torao boldly accepted a bite of Luffy’s omelet and even offered her gross yogurt, which Luffy did not particularly like. She was right and the potatoes were really good. He teased her about the bread and accepted the small kisses she pressed to his cheek. 

 

The waiter did not bother them again. 

 

Luffy accepted a box from a different waiter and packed up the rest of Torao’s potatoes and eggs. He left her yogurt behind. She had eaten an acceptable amount of her breakfast and Luffy found himself proud of her. Torao excused herself to the restroom, leaving Luffy with her metal credit card. He banged it against the table several times, impressed. What was the point of the metal? He read the name several times on the front of it, mouthing it to himself. 

 

Trafalgar D. Water Lauren

 

Such a mouthful. 

 

Luffy paid the bill and signed the receipt, trying his best to spell out her name, but ended up just writing “TORAO” with a smiley face. 

 

Torao returned as he was standing up, her phone clutched in her hand. “I need to stop by the pharmacy to pick up some medication.” She explained to him, taking back the card as he offered it. “Do you mind?”

 

“Nope.” Luffy said happily, popping his ‘p’. “We can even get some snacks for later!”

 

Torao rolled her eyes and muttered to herself so quietly that Luffy didn’t hear it. He followed her through the maze of tables toward the exit before hurrying back to the table to get his shoes. He had almost forgotten!

 

Torao was waiting in the car when he rushed outside. He jumped into the passenger seat and grinned wildly at her. She stared at him for a few seconds before letting out a deep sigh through her nose.

 

The ride to the pharmacy didn’t take very long. Luffy messed with the stereo again and that time, Torao didn’t stop him. He settled on a random station as he lost interest in it due to a cute dog outside the window. He rolled down the window to get a better look at the tiny black puffball, gasping excitedly. 

 

“What are you doing? You’re letting out the A/C.” Torao complained. Luffy leaned out of the window to get a last glance at the puppy before relaxing into his seat. He rolled up the window with a pout. 

 

“There was a little puppy.” He told her, earning a small smile. He quickly jabbed a finger at her. “You’re smiling!”

 

“I’m not.” Torao protested, pressing her lips together. Luffy didn’t want her to not smile so he kept the fact that he could still see the small upturn of her lips to himself. 

 

After the boring stop at the pharmacy, they arrived back at Torao’s condo. Luffy ran inside and excitedly ruffled Bepo’s fur. Torao went to the kitchen to set down the bags of snacks and wash her hands. She then went to take her weird medicines, which Luffy wasn’t interested in. 

 

Well, he was a little interested. 

 

The more he thought about it, he was very interested. 

 

He left Bepo alone and hurried to Torao, watching as she chugged an entire glass of water. A small box laid discarded on the counter. Luffy nosily looked inside, revealing that it was empty.

 

“What a waste of a box.” Luffy muttered. Torao set her glass down on the counter, raising an eyebrow at him. 

 

“Why are you being nosy?” She asked. Luffy stood up straight and gave her a look. 

 

“I can do whatever I want.” He told her. “And what did you even take?”

 

“Oh, a contraceptive.” She frowned. “I told you I was going to take one just in case. I am on birth control, but something about you makes me not trust it.”

 

Luffy’s mind drew a blank. What was she talking about?

 

She seemed to notice that he wasn’t understanding. So she elaborated. 

 

“It’s a high dosage hormone.” She explained. “To delay the release of an egg. It’s actually quite interesting how it works. It’ll probably mess up my cycle, but I am curious to see how that works with my regular birth control.”

 

“So…” Luffy frowned deeply. Her words had honestly made zero sense to him. “You… lay eggs?”

 

“What? No.” Torao gave him a wild look. “Do you really not know anything about the female reproductive system?”

 

Luffy crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, trying his best to recall what Chopper had once told him. “Um, I don’t know…” He moved his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Periods… blood… babies…”

 

Torao turned thoughtful. “I see. You know enough. Well, it doesn’t matter. You understand how babies are made, right?”

 

“Uh, the woman makes them.” Luffy pursed his lips and thought very hard about what his friends had told him. He drew several blanks. 

 

“Yes, but it takes two people to make a baby. You following me? Semen. Sperm. You know when you didn’t pull out?”

 

“Oh!” Luffy snapped his fingers, causing Torao to jump slightly. “My ji-”

 

“I swear to God if you finish that word I will kick you out of my condo.”

 

Luffy pressed his lips together as Torao pinched the bridge of her nose. 

 

“So…” Luffy said awkwardly. “You’re telling me… you took that medicine so that you kill our baby?”

 

“Oh my fucking God. You know what? It’s good. It doesn’t matter. Just keep doing what you’re doing, Lu-ya. I’m the doctor. I’ll know enough for the both of us. Just know that I am taking care of it and…” 

 

Luffy didn’t listen to anything she said after ‘Lu-ya”.

 

They spent the whole afternoon lounging on the sofa and  watching more of Torao’s bad girl movies, which Luffy didn’t really mind because his mind kept getting pulled back to the moments they shared the night before. They had changed into different clothes, because apparently jeans were ‘outside clothes’, and he was grateful for the extra space. He felt as though his dick was going to be permanently stuck in that half-hard state and tried not to draw attention to it. 

 

Apparently his constant shifting and sighs gave him away. 

 

He could have cried when Torao slid her hand down the front of his shorts and immediately gripped his cock. He felt himself get fully hard immediately. 

 

“You are needy.” Torao told him. But she was smirking. Luffy didn’t care. He wanted his cock down her throat. He pushed her hands away and quickly shimmied off his shorts and launched them across the room. They landed on one of her decorative plants, nearly dragging it to the floor. Luffy stretched out on the sofa, looking at her expectantly. She grinned wildly, climbing over his legs and settling herself between his thighs. Her dainty fingers wrapped around his hardness and Luffy thought it was so ironic that her fingers spelled out “EAT” right as her lips closed around his head. Luffy allowed his eyes to flutter close as he enjoyed the warmth of her mouth. He could just sit like that. It was so tight-

 

He opened an eye as he felt a tug on the hand he had resting on his stomach. He allowed Torao to pull his hand to her head, parting his lips. Her eyes locked on his and she seemed to challenge him. What else could he do besides slide his other hand into her hair as well? He forced her head down roughly and her eyes dropped closed. Luffy let out a grunt as he felt her plush throat around him. He couldn’t last doing that. It felt too good and too soft. She was drooling so much. She always drooled too much. 

 

“Torao.” Luffy whined, jerking his hips wildly and dragging her along his shaft. “That’s good. ”

 

Who was he kidding? He was gonna come already so he could do it again. 

 

Torao didn’t complain no matter how hard Luffy fucked into her mouth. He couldn’t look away from her face or her mouth as he chased his own pleasure. He loved to see how his cock disappeared between her pink lips. The only thing that showed just how hard Luffy was pumping his hips was the single tear that slid down Torao’s cheek. 

 

Luffy clenched his toes and gasped, reading to blow his load-

 

But Torao pulled off. Luffy looked at her frantically, grasping for her hair, but she was moving away. Luffy gulped loudly as she quickly pulled off her shirt. 

 

“You’re so cute, Luffy-ya.” Torao murmured as she pushed her pants down her legs. She stepped out of them and then pushed down her underwear. “I can’t resist you any more.”

 

Luffy swallowed, his cock jumping with renewed interest. “I get to put it in?” He asked excitedly. Torao rolled her eyes and quickly straddled his thighs. 

 

“Obviously. But keep still. I’m sore.” She guided both of his hands to her hips before raising herself up on her knees.

 

Luffy was overcome with excitement as he watched Torao impale herself on him. It felt so much tighter than the previous night and he figured it was because he didn’t put his fingers in first. Torao pulsed and flexed around him and he let out a whimper, fingers flexing and tightening on her hips. He tried so hard not to move. Torao had her face screwed up in a grimace as she slowly lowered herself further. 

 

“Don’t hurt yourself.” Luffy suddenly said, creasing his eyebrows. His heart gave a hard beat as concern filled him. Torao let out a breathless laugh, opening her eyes to meet his.

 

“It’ll take more than your dick to hurt me.” She said with sass, resting her hands over his heart. She winced slightly. “Okay. Forget I said anything. Fuck, I’m sore.”

 

“Torao, please.” Luffy chewed his lip. He felt as though he was going to explode. He wanted to thrust up and bury himself in her. It wasn’t fair. Why did she get him so close to coming and then sit on him? She should have started with that. Now he wasn’t going to last very long. She was so warm. Her walls felt so plump. She was so wet. 

 

She set an agonizing pace, dragging her tight pussy up and down his twitching shaft slowly. Luffy was wincing as much as she was. Every time she seated herself on his lap, he let out a grunt as if he had been punched in the stomach. That was almost what it felt like, if he ignored the hot warmth pooling there. He wasn’t going to last and at that rate his orgasm was gonna suck. 

 

Torao pressed her chest against his and leaned heavily against him, peppering her slobbery kisses all over his cheeks. Luffy tightened his grip on her bony hips, feeling her piercings digging into his fingers. He loosened his hold so that he didn’t cause her any discomfort. She moved her arms to rest her hands on either side of his head, her lips meeting his in a demanding kiss. 

 

Luffy slowly thrusted his hips into her, swallowing her moans with every movement of his lips. He swirled his tongue around hers, savoring her taste. He was glad he couldn’t taste the yogurt on her breath. It had been so gross. 

 

Luffy stuttered his hips as he suddenly teetered a little too close to the edge. Torao made a noise of protest before she bit his lip playfully. Luffy’s arms shook as he held her still, hissing out a breath. 

 

“Come already.” Torao mumbled against his lips. “And pull out when you do.”

 

Luffy laughed breathlessly. He was not gonna do that. 

 

He planted his feet on her stupid couch and began to drill into her, nearly laughing because of the ridiculous squeaking sounds that the sofa was making. Torao cursed against his lips before she tightened around him in a way that ripped his orgasm out of him. He managed a few more deep thrusts before he held her tightly against him, feeling her pussy milking his cock in a way that was way too good, better than the first time . He wished it could last forever. He gasped with each pulse, filling her up. His ears rang slightly and he could only stare at the ceiling in surprise as he held her plush ass between his fingers.

 

Torao allowed Luffy to hold her close for a few breaths before she raised herself up on her hands. She was scowling deeply at him and it looked so funny with her red face. Luffy couldn’t help but grin at her. 

 

“I told you to pull out.” She said angrily. “Why didn’t you listen?”

 

“But Torao, it feels so good when I’m coming.” Luffy whined, pushing deeper inside of her to show her what he meant. She winced and pressed her hands hard over his chest. 

 

“What a waste of a prescription.” She muttered. “Stop moving.”

 

Luffy couldn’t stop smiling. Torao stared into his eyes steadily, a small smile pulling on her own lips. Luffy didn’t know why she tried so hard to be a grumpy person.

 

A small jingle interrupted their little world. Torao sighed slightly before shifting slightly so that Luffy’s cock slipped out of her. 

 

“That’s work.” She murmured. “Looks like my weekend is over.”

 

Luffy felt his heart beat uncomfortably. He didn’t want her to go back to work. He wanted to keep watching bad movies and sitting on her uncomfortable couch that was sticking to his naked legs all over. He wanted to take Bepo on another walk. He wanted to watch more dumb girl movies and maybe watch her play the game.

 

But Torao gave him a sad smile and he knew then that he would need to leave. 

 

###

Chapter 14: 14

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Luffy didn’t get to see Torao very much over the next few weeks. Apparently, her work on that emergency patient was so outstanding that the Marco guy pulled some strings to get her fully certified. Luffy didn’t really understand but he guessed it meant that she was a real heart surgeon now. 

 

Chopper started going to Torao’s clinic on the days that she was there to watch her rip people’s teeth out. Torao didn’t let Luffy go, which was not fair, in his opinion, and he hadn’t been able to successfully sneak in yet. That Ikakku lady at the front desk knew what he looked like and always caught him right at the door, though she did give him snacks each time she kicked him out.

 

Between Luffy starting his full training with Rayleigh at the gym and Torao’s newer, more crazy work schedule, they were lucky if they got to play the game together or even if they got to see each other once a week. Luffy desperately wanted to see her for multiple reasons, including his newfound fascination with her naked body underneath his. His hands had become much more active and his computer and phone had amassed a collection of tasteful photos sent by Torao. He hadn’t mastered sending good photos yet, according to her.

 

It was Thursday night and Luffy found himself lounging upside-down on the sofa. He was kicking his legs and watching the TV, stomach growling for some food. Sanji was cooking in the kitchen and Zoro was polishing his swords on the armchair. Torao had texted that she was working a double shift earlier that morning, as there was an accident with construction workers and they needed emergency care. Apparently, one had been filming a video on their phone and managed to capture someone nearly falling to their death. She had not responded to his request of seeing said video.

 

He hadn’t been expecting to see her until Sunday anyways, but it always made his heart hurt that she was so devoted trying to see him on weeknights, even if it was only for an hour, because of the disappointment she conveyed when it didn’t happen. Luffy would probably sneak over to her fancy condo again so that she could get home and pass out before they could do anything more than kiss, just to wake up at the crack of dawn to do it again. Luffy preferred it, anyways, because her condo didn’t have his friends in it to give him begging, sad looks. Even if he spent most of his time hanging out with Bepo, who also tended to look at him sadly. 

 

Luffy hadn’t really mended things with his roommates, but they had been bending over backwards trying to get back to normal for the past few weeks. He also hadn’t had Torao over since that disagreement and he could tell that she noticed that he was specifically not inviting her over, despite the fact that she didn’t have time. He didn’t know if it upset her or not. He couldn't really tell with her. 

 

Well, he was bored. Maybe he’d take the bus downtown and walk to her condo to wait…

 

But the night was suddenly different. Because he had received a text. Torao was outside his apartment. But why was she there? Luffy checked the time and confirmed that she had only been at work for a couple of hours. Something must have happened. She never got off early.

 

“Luffy.” Zoro said for probably the fifth time, sighing. “Look, I really think we need to talk again. It’s been a long time. Can’t we just agree that Sanji and I were dicks and move on? Invite her over. I’ll apologize on behalf of the both of us.”

 

“I think she’s here.” Luffy said with a frown, rereading her text message. But what had changed? Why would she be outside?

 

Outside. Sorry. 

 

Two words. That was it.

 

Luffy responded quickly.

 

Hi what happened to work???

 

“What? You invited her over?” Sanji asked. “I didn’t cook the correct type of food. Let me see what I have in the freezer.”

 

“No, I didn’t invite her.” Luffy turned around so he was sitting up straight. “She was supposed to be at work.”

 

Zoro frowned at that. “Something might have happened. You wanna go find out?”

 

Luffy shrugged and locked his phone. He message simply stated that it had been delivered. “If she wants to talk about it, she’ll tell me.”

 

“I dunno about that.” Sanji said, shutting the freezer. “She seems emotionally constipated.” 

 

“Cook, stop saying shit about her.” Zoro snapped. Sanji waved his hand around.

 

“No, hear me out. I’ve talked to her a few times since that time she was here. I didn’t tell you guys ‘cause it’s none of your business-”

 

“What the fuck have you been saying to her?” Zoro demanded. “Bullshit?”

 

“No, mosshead, we have been talking about getting Luffy to eat vegetables. She’s the most monotone person I’ve ever met. That’s what I was trying to say. Emotionally constipated. It isn’t a bad thing.”

 

Luffy kicked his legs a few times in thought as Zoro began to bicker loudly with Sanji. He thought Torao’s emotions were just fine but maybe Sanji understood girl stuff better than he did. He shrugged to himself before standing up. “I’m gonna go find her. She isn’t texting me back.”

 

He slipped on his now loved Crocs and left the apartment before Zoro could utter another word to him.

 

It was sprinkling outside when Luffy stepped outside of the apartment complex. It felt disgusting because it was also so hot outside. Luffy stuck his tongue out as he looked around the street, trying to find that fancy black car. He noticed it a little ways down the street and grinned before jogging toward it. His shoes squeaked on the slightly wet sidewalk.

 

Torao was sitting in her car with the window down as she texted in an aggressive way, leg bent at a strange angle against her steering wheel. Luffy peered into her window, trying to see what she was doing. She turned her phone toward him so that he could see that she was responding to a super nerdy email with a few too many curse words. 

 

“Boring.” Luffy said, catching her eye. She looked so tired and the bags under her eyes were dark.

 

“That’s my work life, Lu-ya.” She yawned before turning the car on with her thumb. Luffy frowned and leaned into the door so that he could press the button to turn it off. She let out a breathless laugh and met his eyes with a raised brow.

 

“Come in. Sanji has food.” He told her, reaching out to tap his finger on her nose. She scowled at him for a moment before her lips twisted into a smile.

 

“Oh, you’re inviting me inside now?” She teased, leaning closer and kissing his cheek twice. “After how many weeks?”

 

Luffy simply smiled at her. She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. Luffy stepped back so that she had enough space and she hesitated to turn the car on to roll up her window. Luffy held the door for her and looked around it, a grin on his face. 

 

“Any bloody things happen at work?” He asked excitedly. “Take out any hearts?” Torao chuckled and shook her head before closing her door. She then stretched slightly.

 

“Nah, it was really boring. Marco is on a power trip so he wants to be in control of everything. I’m usually fine with that, but then he wanted me to do clinic today, because a patient- well, honestly, I got into a fight with a patient. They refused my care because of my tattoos. So he wanted me to do clinic but I said fuck it. I’ll leave early.”

 

“Huh?” Luffy frowned deeply at that. Torao shrugged, face screwed up in a grimace. She leaned against her car. 

 

“I mean, it’s never happened to me before, but I had a feeling. Would you want your doctor to have “death” tattooed on their hands?”

 

“Well, if the doctor is good, it doesn’t really matter what’s on their skin.” Luffy said. Torao smirked at him and then tapped his nose, causing him to grin. 

 

“Well, obviously. But my idiot patient cared. And I kind of… flipped out. So now I have the weekend off. Well, besides Saturday, when I go to my own office for mandatory training, but…”

 

Luffy took Torao’s hand and began to lead her to the apartment, excited about the turn of events. “What did you say to the patient?”

 

She laced her fingers through his. “Honestly, I don’t really remember. I might have called the patient a superficial cunt, but I mean, at least I got to get off work early. I get to see you.”

 

Luffy stuck his tongue out at her. “Don’t be a sap.”

 

Torao let go of his hand to slide her arm around his waist. “Sorry, I won’t tell you that I miss you, then.”

 

Luffy put his arm around her, too. “No, that’s fine. You can tell me. I miss you a lot when you’re working so much.”

 

Torao leaned on him as they walked. It was difficult to get up the stairs like that, but they managed, much to the annoyance of the poor neighbor walking behind them. Torao smelled like medicine and some sort of disinfectant, which made Luffy’s nose tickle. Her hair was pulled back into a neat bun at her nape again, and she was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt underneath her usual pale green scrubs. Luffy liked her nerd shoes, too - some sort of white, fancy nerd shoe that he could only dream of affording. 

 

Luffy suddenly pressed Torao against the wall outside of his door with a smirk, gently rising on his toes and kissing her lips softly. “You want to take a shower? Or are you okay?”

 

“I’ll take a shower.” She nodded slightly, eyes falling closed. The bags under her eyes were so dark. She hadn’t been sleeping. “Can I borrow some clothes?”

 

“Yeah, of course. I like it when you wear my clothes.”

 

Torao reached up and squished Luffy‘s cheeks together. “Okay. Enough with that kind of talk. I don’t want anyone to hear it.” Torao pecked Luffy’s lips again. Luffy snickered before ruffling her hair, earning slaps on his hands.  

 

“Yeah. I don’t want my friends to think I’m dumb and embarrassing like you.” 

 

“Me? You’re the one who is sweet all the time. I’m the scary bitch tattoo lady.”

 

Luffy grinned. “Huh? I’m sweet? Look at you! Cuddling up to me all the time-”

 

Torao kissed him hard, though it was mostly teeth because she was smiling. “Shush.” She breathed. “C’mon. Let’s act normal.”

 

Luffy swung open the front door wildly, an announcement on his lips that died as he saw Sanji and Zoro jump apart in a very suspicious way. Luffy tilted his head curiously. Torao shoved him forward with a huff. 

 

“You’re blocking the door.” She snapped. “What are you doing?”

 

“Zoro?” Luffy asked hesitantly. Zoro wiped his mouth, looking slightly panicked. 

 

“Well, fuck.” Sanji chuckled humorlessly. “Guess the cat is out of the bag.”

 

Torao forced her way into the apartment. Luffy stared between his friends in wonder, wondering why they gave him such a hard time when…

 

“You guys are fucking.” He said flatly. Torao dropped her jaw and stared at Luffy in disbelief. Zoro and Sanji also gaped. 

 

“Luffy, no. ” Zoro said immediately. “No one is fucking anyone here.”

 

Luffy shut the door slowly, brain churning with explanations of how Zoro and Sanji could like each other like that. They were both men, which Luffy didn’t really care about, but they always fought. That wouldn’t work.

 

But Luffy bickered with Torao sometimes. Maybe in private they were sweet, too?

 

“I get it.” Luffy said slowly, looking at Torao, who was still staring at him in surprise. He leaned close to her to whisper in her ear. “They must be boyfriends. That’s why they were kissing.”

 

“Stop whispering.” Sanji snapped. “What did he say, Torao?!”

 

“No, you don’t call me that.” Torao snapped back, sneering at Sanji. “ You call me Law.”

 

“Okay, Law, what the fuck did Luffy say?”

 

Torao loosened her body language with a tsk. “None of your business. That’s what. I don’t owe either of you anything after you went through my computer like a fucking stalker.”

 

“Luffy, you told her?!” Sanji demanded. “What the fuck!”

 

“You know Luffy can’t keep secrets.” Zoro muttered. “And you did force us to go through her pictures.”

 

“For the nipples.” Luffy added, earning murderous looks from both Sanji and Torao. 

 

“Luffy, come here.” Zoro said, tilting his head toward the hallway. “Let’s chat.”

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna have a chat with your cook.” Torao muttered. Luffy nodded and bounded over to Zoro happily. He was actually excited about the thing between him and Sanji. Maybe they could go do those dates together that Luffy kept seeing on the sappy stupid romance movies Torao made him watch. 

 

Zoro opened the door to his room and allowed Luffy to go in first. Luffy flopped onto the bed immediately while Zoro closed the door. 

 

“Alright, Luffy, I’m sorry you had to, uh, see that.” Zoro started as Luffy crossed his legs on the bed. “I just need to tell you a few things before you start asking questions-”

 

“Zoro, I get it.” Luffy interrupted, glad that he finally understood something. “You and Sanji are boyfriends and I think that’s really cool. You can tell me anything, you know. Just like I’ll tell you anything.”

 

“… No. Luffy. That’s not it. We aren’t boyfriends. It’s- fuck, it’s complicated, okay? He’s not… out. You know?”

 

“What? He’s out there right now.” Luffy pointed to the door. Zoro sighed.

 

“No. That’s not what I mean. He’s not gay. So he says.”

 

Luffy did not understand anything. He took it all back. 

 

Zoro sat on the bed next to Luffy, looking absolutely distressed. Luffy wordlessly turned and pulled Zoro against his chest. Zoro sighed and leaned into the embrace. 

 

“I don’t know how you’re so good at listening.” Zoro muttered. “You’re so good at this.”

 

“Torao says that, too. I don’t know why, though.” Luffy rubbed Zoro’s back. “Sanji doesn’t have to be out of gay. If he likes you, he should tell you.”

 

Zoro chuckled before pulling back. He was grinning wickedly. 

 

“Oh, I got it out of him.” He said with his toothy smile. “When you went outside. I finally had enough of his cocky attitude and confronted him. And he melted right into my arms. Well, until you came back.”

 

“Oh, was that the first kiss?” Luffy asked. “Huh.”

 

“Yeah, it was. Don’t tell the others, okay?”

 

“I don’t want to lie to anyone. You know I don’t like it.”

 

Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, I know, I know, but I just mean… give Cook some time.”

 

Luffy nodded. “Sure, Zoro.”

 

Zoro then sighed. “And… what can I do to get things back to normal? You know you’re my best friend. I fucking miss you.” 

 

Luffy did miss Zoro, too. It almost felt like they were back to normal. Surely if Zoro felt sorry for what he said… Luffy could forgive him. 

 

So Luffy grinned. “Of course. Let’s stop being dumb.”

 

And Zoro grinned, too. 

 

They rejoined the others in the kitchen. Sanji was bothering Torao about her nipples and she looked as though she was five seconds away from beating the shit out of him. Luffy jumped up to sit on the kitchen island next to her.

 

“He’s not gonna stop.” Torao gritted out through her teeth. “He doesn’t fucking stop.”

 

“Just show him your nipples.” Zoro joked. “Then he’ll shut up.”

 

Luffy looked at Torao curiously. She was grinding her teeth hard. Was that fine for her to do?

 

“They’re just nipples, what’s the big deal?” Luffy asked. Zoro chuckled and rubbed Luffy’s back. Sanji left the kitchen with his phone pressed to his ear.

 

“Cook has this idea in his head about what Torao looks like naked.” He explained. Torao shot a glare at Zoro for the use of the nickname. “And Sanji’s really… persistent.”

 

“Fucking annoying, more like it.” Torao muttered. “Luffy-ya, I'm going to take a shower. I’ll get some clothes from your room after. Is that okay?”

 

Luffy nodded with a grin. “Have fun! Oh! You can use Sanji’s soaps since they smell all girly. Or you can use mine and Zoro’s new soap. It’s shampoo, conditioner, face wash, and body wash all in one!”

 

“And toothpaste.” Zoro added. 

 

“Yeah. I’m not using that.” Torao muttered. She brushed a kiss to Luffy’s cheek before walking off down the hall. Luffy chuckled to himself and pressed his fingers on his face. He was so surprised that she would kiss him in front of Zoro like that but was very happy about it.

 

“I’m not surprised she’s still around.” Zoro said in a low voice. “She’s totally in love with you, Luffy.”

 

Luffy frowned. “Huh? What’s that mean? We are already doing the dating thing, Zoro.”

 

“Yes, I know , but you should see how she looks at you. She’s so prickly and yet every glance she gives you, she has hearts in her eyes. What did you do to her?”

 

Luffy frowned. He didn’t see hearts. Was he not looking hard enough? “I didn't do anything. We barely even hang out. I haven’t gotten to put it in for a long time!”

 

Zoro’s eyes immediately widened and Sanji returned from wherever he was. 

 

“Everything good?” Zoro asked him. Sanji rolled his eyes.

 

“The Old Geezer had a dumb question.”

 

“Wait, Luffy.” Zoro said quickly, leaning closer to Luffy suddenly. “Did you have sex with Torao?”

 

Luffy scratched the inside of his nostril, proud that he knew more about sex and fucking. “Um, yeah. I did. Like two months ago. She’s really busy.”

 

Sanji whistled while Zoro turned to look down the hall. 

 

“She had a weird boyfriend before.” Luffy decided to tell Sanji, giving him a frown and crossing his arms. “She said he made her do it. Like he shoved it in and she was bleeding all over the place and crying probably. So please be nice about her nipples.”

 

Sanji blinked while he tried to connect the dots. Zoro sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. 

 

“Did you use a condom, Luffy?” He asked, voice muffled by his hand.

 

“No, I didn’t. I know what they are, though.”

 

“You pulled out though, right? When you blew your load?” Sanji asked. Luffy frowned at him. 

 

“No, why would I do that? That’s the best part.”

 

“Yeah, this isn’t going to end well.” Zoro put his face in his hands. Luffy patted his back in comfort. 

 

“Don’t worry. She takes the pills.”

 

Sanji brought a plate of chicken and what looked like vegetables over to Luffy and set it on the island counter next to him. He chewed his lip for a little before meeting Luffy’s eyes. 

 

“Luffy… would you mind not telling anyone what you saw?” He whispered while Zoro pretended to be doing something else. “Not even Law, okay?”

 

Luffy frowned at that. “Torao won’t care.” He said, earning surprised looks from both Zoro and Sanji. Luffy grinned. “I think Torao’s friends kiss all over each other, too. And they’re both boys.”

 

Sanji seemed to want to say something and stopped. Luffy nodded to enforce his words and Zoro sighed. 

 

They sat like that, stressed out and quiet, until Torao came back. She was wearing one of Luffy’s red shirts that had a pirate symbol on it, alone with a pair of his sweatpants. Her feet were bare again and Luffy noticed that her toenails were freshly painted. Luffy pointed immediately. 

 

“That’s a new color.” He said. “You never paint them like that.”

 

Torao seemed surprised but cleared her throat. “I went out with my staff earlier this week on our lunch break. They wanted to get pedicures. I wanted to get black like I usually do.”

 

“That’s yellow.”

 

“Yeah, I was bullied into it by Ikkaku.” Torao hesitated, eyes darting to Sanji. “I apologize for being rude.”

 

Sanji grinned at her. “Oh, if a lady’s words could get to me, I’d be in pieces on the floor by now.”

 

Torao scoffed. “That’s not really a good thing to say. So you admit to assaulting women with unwanted compliments?”

 

“Of course every woman is different. They aren’t always unwanted. I learned my lesson with you quickly that you’re a special case .”

 

Torao suddenly tugged the bottom of her borrowed shirt. “Yeah, appreciate it. That’s why I thought I’d do something for you.”

 

“Are you going to show him your nipples?” Luffy asked, intrigued. Sanji’s eyes widened and Zoro clenched his jaw. 

 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Sanji said quickly. Torao smirked, tugging up her shirt slowly to reveal her tattooed stomach. 

 

“Well, I mean, you only asked a million times, and I figure a man secure in his sexuality will have no problem seeing nipples.”

 

“Law, watch it.” Zoro frowned deeply at that jab. Luffy parted his lips in anticipation, words having gone over his head. He loved to see Torao’s nipples. Well, he loved to see her entire body naked… but he didn’t think Sanji should see that much. 

 

“You don’t have to do this.” Sanji said quickly, glancing nervously at Zoro. Luffy glanced at Zoro, too. Zoro crossed his arms and shrugged. 

 

“I don’t give a shit. I’m gay. I don’t care about some tits.”

 

There was that word again. Luffy chewed his lip, torn between asking what it meant and seeing Torao’s boobs. 

 

Torao managed to pull her shirt barely over the curve of her breasts before Sanji leapt across the counter with impressive speed. He yanked her shirt down roughly, a glare on his face. 

 

“I don’t need to see that.” He snapped. “Have some more modesty.”

 

“With what? They’re just nipples. You guys put them too high on a pedestal. I don’t give a shit.” Torao stepped back with a sneer. Zoro rolled his eyes and reached out to tug her shirt back up. 

 

“If you don’t look, you’re gonna be fucking annoying about it.” He said flatly, yanking the shirt up until one of Torao’s breasts were exposed. “There. Look. Nipples. Cool?”

 

Sanji’s face was red and his nose trickled blood. Luffy was grinning with excitement. Torao tugged her shirt from Zoro’s grip with a scowl, her own cheeks slightly pink. 

 

“Now, let’s eat!” Luffy said happily, lifting the large chicken leg from his plate. He chewed loudly as Torao settled against his side as she liked to do lately when they were together. Luffy looked at his place of food carefully before offering Torao a piece of chicken with his free hand. She took it with a slight face and Luffy watched her until she bit a small corner. 

 

Torao had been doing a little better with eating but still struggled a lot when it came to trying new foods out of what Luffy liked the call her “comfort list”. Luffy loved everything and was always able to finish both of their meals without wasting anything, so they were able to comfortably experiment. Some days were better than others, though, and Luffy had a feeling that, because her day at work was so bad, she wasn’t going to be as excited about eating. But knowing Torao, she hadn’t eaten a single thing that day.

 

“What don’t you like about it?” Luffy asked her in a low voice. She sighed and set the piece back on the plate. 

 

“I don’t know. The texture.” She muttered. Luffy carefully selected another piece of food, this time a roasted carrot. Torao chewed it slowly. Zoro and Sanji watched the exchange carefully. 

 

“Carrots are fine.” Luffy muttered to himself, lifting a tiny green tree. “How about… well, what the heck is this?”

 

“That’s broccoli.” Torao snapped, snatching the piece up. She quickly popped it into her mouth and chewed with a glare. Luffy nodded once and pushed his food around. He didn’t really care about vegetables and liked that Torao liked them.

 

“The meat is a no.” He said. 

 

“Law, are you that picky?” Sanji asked with a frown. “I can make you something else.”

 

Torao gritted her teeth and Luffy grimaced. He knew that directly commenting on her eating was bad.

 

“So, how’s Chopper doing?” Zoro blurted before Torao could snap. Luffy felt her relax slightly against his side and was grateful that Zoro wasn’t stupid like Sanji. 

 

“Tony-ya is doing good. Though I think I am going to hire him at this point. He made a small mistake the other day and one of my staff members flipped out and I… well I guess I lost my temper. Tony-ya didn’t know better and I felt the need to make that clear. Maybe I wasn’t very nice. And the employee quit. Fine by me, I’m just short-staffed now.”

 

“Torao, you have to be nicer.” Luffy said disapprovingly. “What if someone tries to get back at you?”

 

Torao sighed. “I know, Luffy-ya… I know.”

 

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt to not be a bitch.” Sanji muttered. Torao glared at him. 

 

“What’s your fucking problem with me?” She demanded. “I showed you my fucking tits and answered your needy-ass questions. What the fuck else do you want?”

 

“Okay, let’s calm down.” Zoro said. “Sanji, can I have a word with you?” 

 

Torao grumbled to herself and angrily picked up her piece of chicken again. She chewed it aggressively. Luffy grabbed the fork and began to shovel the food into his mouth quickly before Torao could eat it all. 

 

Sanji and Zoro stepped out to one of their rooms and Luffy nearly choked. Torao patted his back with a sigh. 

 

“Zoro has never called Sanji by his name.” Luffy gasped, grabbing for his glass of water. He chugged it before looking at Torao with wide eyes. “You know what that means?!”

 

“I don’t.” Torao said flatly, smoothing his hair. Luffy glanced toward the hallway. 

 

“It means… they probably want to date.”

 

Torao chuckled. “And how did you reach that conclusion?”

 

Luffy shrugged and finished his food. “No idea. Hey, Torao, wanna watch a movie?”

 

“Of course I want to watch a movie. You wanna watch it here or you want to watch it in your room?”

 

Luffy gave her a look while his cock jumped with interest in his shorts. “My room, please please please.”

 

Torao grinned, gently tapping his nose with her finger. “And why is that? Think you’re going to get something?”

 

Luffy shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “I don’t mind either way. But I’d like to be alone in case something does happen.”

 

“You are too fucking sweet.” Torao kissed his lips softly, arms sliding around his neck. “Way too sweet for me.”

 

“Just sweet enough.” Luffy corrected, kissing her softly in return. His stomach swirled with those familiar bugs at the feel of her lips on his. He pulled back slightly. “I’m gonna make you some food, though, because you need to eat. I bet you didn’t eat all day and just had coffee, huh?”

 

“I didn’t even have coffee.” Torao admitted, nose nudging his. “I’m about to pass out.” 

 

“Go sit on the sofa. I’ll make you some stuff.” Luffy pushed her urgently. She shook her head with a soft smile and followed his directions, lounging on the couch with a grunt. 

 

Luffy ran to the fridge and yanked it open. He had been researching for that moment. He was going to make his own onigiri and Torao was going to love it. 

 

He pulled out some soy sauce and then walked back and forth quickly as he pondered his next move. He turned on the coffee maker and started it at record speed before hurrying to the pantry and pulling out the cans of tuna and bags of instant rice that Sanji had gotten for the practice sessions they never did. It couldn’t be that hard, right?

 

Luffy struggled for twenty minutes before Torao made her way over to him, an amused expression on her face that turned to puzzlement when she noticed what he was doing. 

 

“Luffy-ya…” She murmured. “What’s going on?”

 

Luffy smashed together his hands, causing rice to fall all over the counter. “I’m making you lunch.” He muttered. “It’s really hard.”

 

The rice had been easy to cook in the microwave and the tuna was already cooked. The problem was getting the right shapes.

 

He added his log of rice to the plate. He then grabbed two more handfuls of rice and spooned more tuna between them before smashing it again. He sighed sharply when he realized he forgot the mayo. 

 

“Maybe smash it a little softer.” Torao said. Luffy nodded and stuck his tongue out to focus as he shaped it into a ball. “There you go. That’s good. Did you wash your hands, Luffy-ya?”

 

“Of course.” Luffy pointed to the sink, where the residue of soapy bubbles could still be seen. “I used the fancy soap Sanji uses before he cooks. I sang ‘happy birthday’ twice like Chopper taught me.”

 

“Ah. I see. You made coffee, too?” Torao moved to the coffee maker. Luffy frowned at her. 

 

“Hey, go sit down. I’m bringing you the stuff. Go!”

 

“You’re trying to boss me around again, huh?” But she listened, dropping a small kiss against his temple before going. Luffy stuck his tongue out and focused on making the onigiri into at least ball shapes. He rolled them as evenly as possible and lined them up on the plate carefully. He then sprinkled the seasoning on top, grinning at the tiny flakes of seaweed and different colored sesame seeds. He then grabbed a yellow mug, filled it with coffee, and made two trips to the living room. 

 

Torao was curled up under one of the yarn blankets that Sanji liked to leave on the sofa, her head on the arm as she typed on her phone. She smiled tiredly at Luffy as he kicked off his Crocs and sat next to her. 

 

“I had to remove all of my bad words from my email.” She murmured. “I have to be professional.”

 

Luffy chuckled and offered her the plate of food. She excitedly sat up straight and lifted one of the balls. 

 

“I can’t believe you made this.” She said before taking a large bite. She chewed slowly before shaking her head. Luffy’s stomach dropped. 

 

“You don’t like it?” He asked, uncertainty lacing his voice. She gave him a crooked grin. 

 

“What do you mean? These are probably the best fucking rice balls I’ve ever had.”

 

Luffy positively beamed. 

 

“You forgot the seaweed, though. And I’m assuming the mayo.”

 

“No, the seaweed is the tiny little lines.” Luffy explained. “Sanji got that fancy seasoning from that pirate store for me.”

 

Torao finished her first rice ball as Zoro walked into the living room. 

 

“She eats.” He said with a grin. “You guys mind if I join you?”

 

Torao shrugged and bit into another ball as Zoro sat in the armchair adjacent to them. Luffy sipped his water slowly, wondering if he should still put on the movie or something. 

 

Zoro chose to be social, which was weird. “I don’t think I’ve officially met you.” He told Torao. “But my name is Roronoa Zoro. Figure we should start over.”

 

Torao chewed slowly as she assessed him. She then swallowed and accepted his offered hand. 

 

“Trafalgar Law.”

 

Luffy grinned widely. 

 

“Zoro is my best friend.” He said happily. “Don’t tell anyone else, though.”

 

“You’ve known each other for a long time?” Torao asked, clearing her throat. Luffy was impressed that she was participating in the small talk. Zoro crossed one leg over his knee and sighed. 

 

“Yeah.” He said. “I’ve known Luffy for a few years. He actually forced me to be his friend.”

 

“Yeah I was being bullied.” Luffy said happily, earning a surprised look from Torao. “I told him ‘I need someone like you to be my friend’ and I only had to ask three times for him to agree. Then he beat up my bully and we have been best friends ever since.”

 

“Who could bully you?” Torao asked in surprise. “I feel like you wouldn’t let it happen.”

 

Luffy snickered. “Nah, it was just a mean guy. He was upset about Hammock.”

 

Zoro laughed out loud. “Oh, man, I forgot about that chick. She was so in love with you!”

 

“She was annoying.” Luffy muttered. “Always trying to tell me stupid stories or make me sit with her.”

 

“Vivi was telling me last week that she keeps asking about you. She was not happy when Chopper spilled the beans about your girlfriend.” Zoro was grinning. “Who knew you were such a ladies man.”

 

Torao raised an eyebrow, lips tilting into a smirk. “Oh, really? That’s really cute, Luffy-ya.”

 

Luffy glared at her. “No, it’s annoying!”

 

Torao leaned against his side. “Do you think I’m annoying too?”

 

“Only when you say embarrassing things to me in front of my friends.”

 

Torao was grinning. “Oh yeah? Like when I say you’re cute? ”

 

“He is cute.” Zoro agreed, grinning equally as wide as Torao. Luffy looked between them with an annoyed look. 

 

“Anyways, I beat the fuck out of that guy.” Zoro said. “Then we picked up Nami, who was betting money that I’d get expelled for beating up a teacher. I didn’t, but that was because he didn't want to press charges.”

 

“Usopp’s dad is a lawyer.” Luffy said happily. “That’s how we met him. And we had to have a fancy meeting and he took us to the Baratie!”

 

“Where we met Sanji.” Zoro said. Torao was nodding along with interest. 

 

“Then, I had my accident.” Luffy said, heart twisting as he said it out loud. Zoro made a gesture to interrupt him but Luffy waved him off. “It’s okay. I want to tell her.”

 

“Luffy…” Zoro seemed apprehensive. Torao had stopped eating to watch Luffy with concerned eyes. Luffy took a breath, ready to tell the story that he had never voiced before, nearly three years after it had happened.

 

“My brother, Ace. He was super cool.” Luffy started, smiling at the memories. “My big brother. I always wanted to do everything with him. Well, he was super into planes. Gramps had this old farm that had a small one and Ace and Gramps liked to work on it. Sabo was already out of the country at that point. I wonder how he’s doing? He doesn’t really get to contact me. He’s working with tribes and things like that. Sometimes he sends postcards.”

 

“Sabo is his other brother.” Zoro explained quietly. Luffy clenched his fists and took a breath to try to get rid of the tight feeling he suddenly had around his heart. 

 

“Well, after they fixed the little plane, Ace wanted to take it out and try to get it to fly. He wouldn’t let me go with him. Gramps told him no, that he would need fuel, and he would go get some, but Ace didn’t want to wait. And I didn’t want Ace to be alone.”

 

Luffy closed his eyes as his throat felt constricted. He felt Zoro move to sit next to him. “So Ace took the plane out. And I jumped on the back of it. And… it was really fun. Ace was so mad when he found me! But he pulled me in the pit with him. We flew all over. All the farms looked like yummy little squares. I wanted to eat them.”

 

Luffy gulped as the memories assaulted him. He rubbed his chest as it burned. “Then… we ran out of fuel. And the engine just stopped. Must have been needing some more repairs, too. And we kinda fell from the sky… and we crashed into an abandoned gas station. Ace was huggin’ me the whole time.”

 

“Oh, my god.” Torao said thickly, her fingers wrapping around Luffy’s wrist tightly. Zoro’s hand was on Luffy’s other wrist. 

 

“Well, the plane exploded. There was a big fire explosion and I felt all these little stabs all over me. A giant burning rod stabbed both of us through the chest. It would have been only me. But Ace protected me. He was smiling at me the whole time. I saw the light leave his eyes.”

 

Luffy felt tears falling from his eyes. He hated that. He quickly rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand. Torao was still holding onto his wrist. 

 

“I tried to do CPR.” Luffy continued, clearing his throat. “I got his blood all over my hands. And then I passed out. I never saw Ace again. Gramps was so mad! But… I guess I had some sort of heart surgery and a bunch of things, I don’t know. It was at a fancy hospital that Chopper’s mom works at. There was this weird doctor that looked like a pineapple. I remember him. He knew Ace.”

 

Torao was very quiet. Luffy quickly wiped his eyes again and grinned at her and Zoro. He hated that his lips trembled.

 

“Anyways, I was asleep for a while. Even Shanks came to see me. Shanks is my friend from when I was a kid! He always goes on long cruises and brings me back cool stuff. Like my hat! Oh! I need to show you my hat!”

 

“Luffy, just get back on track.” Zoro said with a soft pat. “You can show Torao your hat later.”

 

Luffy pouted, trying to steady the beat of his heart. “Okay, fine. Whatever. Anyways, I met Chopper when he was changing my bandages! He was so scared of me! He has always been a super nerd. Anyways, that was three years ago. I met Robin, too, once I started my classes. She’s a history teacher. And I met Franky because he’s a mechanic and that’s where we got Sanji’s car from! Have you seen Sanji’s car? It’s not cool like your fancy car. Anyways, I met Brook at the cemetery when we buried Ace. He’s a musician. And that was also three years ago.” Luffy grinned at Torao. She had an unreadable look on her face. 

 

Luffy stole one of her rice balls and popped the entire thing into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. 

 

“And now we live here.” He added. “Ace’s partner let us have this apartment. They come and visit sometimes and we have a fun time remembering Ace.”

 

“Yamato is cool.” Zoro said. “But they’re always too excited.”

 

“Yeah, but their dad is kinda creepy. Anyways, that’s how I met my friends, Torao. Hey, how did you meet your friends?”

 

Torao shifted in her spot, her long legs peeking out from under the blanket. She seemed to want to ask Luffy some questions but stopped herself to answer the one he asked her. “When I was younger, maybe sixteen, after my parents died, I ran away from my uncle’s home. I found these two teenagers beating up a pregnant dog so I beat the shit out of them. They’ve been following me around ever since.”

 

“Wait, what?!” Luffy demanded. “A dog?! I’m gonna kick their asses!”

 

“Good, do it. They always deserve it.” Torao smirked. “That dog gave birth to a litter of puppies and I took the white one. That’s Bepo.”

 

“Oh, that’s a nice story.” Luffy said. “That’s really cool!”

 

“What, that I beat them up?” Torao rolled her eyes and Luffy grinned. 

 

“Yeah! They’re probably super weak if they let a skinny girl like you beat them up.”

 

“Luffy-ya, are you so certain you could beat me in a fight?” Torao was grinning. Luffy nodded happily. 

 

“Yeah, I could take you. Easy.”

 

“We will continue this conversation later.” Torao began to eat her onigiri again. Luffy opened his mouth to protest but Zoro nudged him in the side, causing him to wince. 

 

“Zoro, that hurt.” Luffy whined, rubbing his ribs. 

 

“She’s flirting with you.” He murmured, earning a sharp gaze from Torao that he ignored. “You should try to wrestle her once you guys are alone.”

 

Torao didn’t comment and instead smirked to herself. Luffy was so confused. 

 

Sanji joined them a few minutes later, eyes puffy. He sat on the armchair and gestured to the black screen of the TV. 

 

“C’mon. Put something on. I’ll make some popcorn.”

 

Luffy cheered while Torao claimed the remote control. He was so excited to have a double date! Should he make more room on the sofa for Sanji to sit too? Torao protested slightly as he pushed her over a little. Sanji left to make the popcorn and Torao gave Luffy a wild look. Zoro excused himself to the restroom.

 

“What are you doing?” She demanded after a few bony elbows to her sides. “Stop pushing me and jabbing me with your elbows.”

 

“We have to make room.” Luffy whispered loudly. “So Sanji can sit by Zoro!” 

 

Torao was immediately on board and suddenly there was enough space. Luffy then purposely spilled his cup of soda all over the armchair. Torao gaped in disbelief. 

 

“Oh my god, Luffy, what did you do?” Sanji demanded as he walked back into the living room. Luffy scratched the back of his head and willed his face not to reveal anything. 

 

“I’m just so clumsy.” Luffy muttered. Sanji sighed and immediately began to clean up the mess. Luffy grabbed Torao’s mug of coffee and also spilled it onto the armchair. Sanji threw his rag down in exasperation and Torao began to snap at Luffy about spilling her coffee and how he better get her more. Luffy simply grinned. His plan would work. 

 

Once Luffy got more coffee for Torao and sat halfway on her lap, Zoro rejoined them. He took one look at the armchair covered in towels and then at Luffy and gritted his teeth. 

 

“Luffy, what are you doing?” He asked, annoyed.  

 

“I’m just, really wanting to sit on Torao’s lap actually.” Luffy quickly shifted until he was sitting on top of Torao’s legs. She grumbled and ripped the blanket out from under his butt before draping it over them both. Her arms settled around his waist and she raised an eyebrow at Zoro in challenge. Zoro rolled his eyes and sat next to them. 

 

“Fine, but you better not do any weird shit while we are watching the movie.” Zoro muttered. “I want to see your hands on top of the blanket, Luffy.”

 

Luffy didn’t understand but shifted his hands above the fabric. He flinched as he felt Torao’s hands against his bare stomach. 

 

Sanji joined them on the sofa after placing a charcuterie board on the coffee table alongside a bowl of popcorn and a bottle of wine. Luffy protested slightly but accepted the glass of red liquid. 

 

“Don’t be a child.” Sanji told him. “We are sophisticated adults who enjoy wine.”

 

“I don’t really like to drink.” Luffy muttered as he sipped the wine. Torao removed one hand from his skin to accept her own glass of wine. Luffy immediately missed her warmth. 

 

Zoro and Sanji sat very far apart from each other. Luffy watched them more than he watched the movie, glaring slightly. What could he do to get them to sit closer together? 

 

Torao could sense his wonder and gently kissed the spot behind his ear. “I have an idea.” She breathed. Her tongue traced the inner shell of his ear. He immediately stiffened and pulled away from her, twisting to stare at her in horror. 

 

“Torao, don’t.” He said sternly. She grinned, shifting slightly and gently nudging him into Zoro. Zoro shifted more toward Sanji with a groan. 

 

“You guys, really? In the living room?” He demanded. “Luffy, get off of her lap, now. Sit by me.”

 

“We didn’t even do anything, she was licking my ear like a weirdo!” Luffy protested, not understanding that he had, in fact, succeeded with his plan. Zoro shifted over more to allow space for Luffy, who shot betrayed looks to Torao. Torao adjusted herself in her seat, smirking. 

 

Luffy still couldn’t focus on the movie and that was for several reasons. The first one was that Torao was resting her hand on his inner thigh in a very bad place. His dick was twitching repeatedly in interest at the warmth of her hand and he was trying to hold still. He was glad the blanket had ended up in a ball on his lap so that his friends couldn’t see.

 

The second reason was that Sanji and Zoro were whispering to each other and Luffy couldn’t hear them very well. He kept picking up small snippets of their conversation but Torao was distracting him so much! Why was her hand there?! What did she want?! Was she trying to do naughty things to him? Why would she do that when they are on the sofa like that?!

 

“I just don’t know.” Luffy heard Sanji whisper. “It’s so… confusing.”

 

Torao slid her hand up slightly, fingers brushing his clothed erection. He stiffened.

 

“You know I’m not pressuring you, cook. Don’t stress about it.”

 

Luffy bit his lip as her fingers traced the shape of him. 

 

“The kiss was hot.” Sanji whispered even quieter. “Probably the hottest I’ve ever had.”

 

Torao firmly squeezed his cock. 

 

“Well, until you decide… we can always-”

 

“I have to go to the bathroom right now so bad!” Luffy screamed, throwing the blanket off of himself. He leapt over both Zoro and Sanji before scrambling down the hall. He swore he could hear Torao laughing the entire time. 

 

She was going to get it. 

 

###

Chapter 15: 15

Notes:

i blinked and i guess 3 months went by, sorry for the delay. i'll try to be more consistent

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She did get it just a short two hours later in the form of Luffy buried deep within her as she bounced on his lap on the corner of his bed.

 

Luffy’s mind was swimming as pleasure overcame him. It had been entirely too long in his opinion. She was so wet and slick and tight around him and he had not been remembering how she felt clearly enough in his fantasies because he was almost overwhelmed. The noises she was making were driving him crazy . He liked the position. He really liked it. Her arms were tightly wound around his shoulders and he roughly dragged her up and down his hard cock. Her hot breath tickled his ear.

 

“Fuck, Luffy-ya. ” She gasped, shuddering. “Harder. I want it harder.”

 

“I can’t move you more.” Luffy whined, jerking his hips up to slam against hers. “I can’t-”

 

Torao bit his shoulder so hard he hissed. “ Fuck me.”

 

Luffy leaned back and steadied himself on his feet on the end of the mattress. He forced her legs higher up on either side of his hips before gripping her ass tightly. He then held her still as he drilled his hips up onto her roughly. She slumped against him with a loud, pleased moan, nails digging into his back. Luffy didn’t care how loud she was. She wanted it hard, she would get it after what she did to him on the sofa. Luffy was going to be so rough that she would feel him later. She would think twice before picking on him again. 

 

He just hoped she would come first. He wasn’t going to last.

 

He stuttered his thrusts as he came suddenly, pushing as deep as he could go. He held her tightly against him as he rocked against her, letting out a grunt. Her walls spasmed around him as he came, making it feel even better. She rocked her hips against his own thrusts, cursing and pinching his skin. 

 

“Don’t pinch me.” He gasped, jerking. “It hurts.”

 

“Sorry.” Torao rocked her hips slowly, moaning. “Fuck, I love the feeling of you filling me up.”

 

Luffy couldn’t help but grin.

 

They rolled around, fighting for who would get to snuggle who, until Torao slammed Luffy down to the mattress. He blamed it on the fact that he was tired after fucking her so good. He tried to pull out and she shook her head against his neck, arms sliding around his body. She held onto him like some sort of tall monkey, which was funny to Luffy and caused him to snicker. She was so clingy. She wouldn’t even let him take his dick out of her. His heart warmed at that.

 

“Luffy-ya…” She murmured in a tone of voice that Luffy had never heard her use. He rested one hand against the middle of her back and the other on the back of her head, which seemed to be exactly what she needed, because the next words that she said were so unexpected that Luffy gaped like a fish. “I love you.”

 

She had said it so quietly that he barely heard it. What did he say in response? How should he respond to it? 

 

He wanted to hear it louder and more clearly to make sure that he didn’t mishear. Should he ask her to say it again? His heart hammered so hard in his chest that he was afraid it would beat out of his skin.

 

Torao didn’t seem to expect a response at all because the next thing he knew, she was kissing his cheek and moving off of him. She pulled on the shirt that she had borrowed from him, along with the sweatpants, and left the room. Luffy stared at the closed door for a while, mouth still open in surprise. 

 

He needed to talk to Zoro. What the fuck was that?

 

Luffy quickly jumped up from the bed, ignoring the stickiness of his body as he pulled on a pair of his gym shorts and left his room, intending to run to Zoro’s room, but a soft sniffle coming from the bathroom had him freezing in his steps. Was that Torao? 

 

He didn’t think as he knocked on the closed door. “Torao?” He called. The water turned on briefly. He knocked again, heart squeezing weirdly. “Torao! Open the door. You okay?”

 

She didn’t answer him and he chewed his lip, brows furrowed. Zoro had told him not to leave her alone after she was fucked. Did it count if she was the one who left him, too? He didn’t want her to be alone. Especially if she was crying. 

 

He gently turned the door handle, noticing it was unlocked. He slowly pushed the door open. 

 

“Torao?…” He whispered through the crack of the door. He heard another sniffle and pushed the door fully open. 

 

Torao was sitting with her back to the door and her feet in the empty bathtub. Luffy closed the door behind him and stepped closer to her, reaching out to touch her arm. She shied away from him, raising her shoulders to her ears. 

 

“What do you want, Luffy-ya?” She asked in a flat voice. Luffy frowned at her and put his hands on his hips. 

 

“What’s your problem?” He asked. She laughed humorlessly and wiped her eyes. 

 

“Nothing more than usual. Just me fucking everything up.”

 

“Torao… what are you talking about?”

 

She waved her hand in his direction, dismissing him. “Just leave me alone. I want to be alone.”

 

Luffy crossed his arms. “It’s my apartment.”

 

Another laugh. “Alright. I’ll get going. Thanks for the fuck.”

 

Luffy felt another uncomfortable clenching over his heart. What did she mean by that? Why was she being mean to him? She had never been like that with him before. Did he do something? Did she not enjoy herself? Was he too rough? 

 

“Law.” Luffy said firmly, causing her to stiffen. “I don’t like how you’re talking to me.”

 

That seemed to be a bad thing to say because suddenly she was curled in on herself, sobbing helplessly into her hands. Luffy blinked at her in confusion. Who was this lady? What happened to the regular Torao? He was reminded of the time at her condo those weeks ago, when her friends had fought with her. Torao had been crying then, too. Maybe she needed another hug?

 

Luffy sat on the edge of the tub next to her, nearly slipping into it. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. 

 

“I don’t know what’s going on.” He murmured against her hair, the soft strands tickling his nose. “But I’m here for you. How can I help?”

 

She sniffled wetly, fingers resting against his bare chest. “I’m sorry.” She breathed. “I shouldn’t have said that. Can we forget I said it? It’s too early. I’m so stupid. I’m messing everything up. I don’t want to lose you. Please…”

 

Now Luffy was really confused.

 

“Law, what are you saying?” Luffy whispered. He couldn't resist the small kiss he pressed against her forehead. “I really don’t get it. What do you want me to forget? I never forget anything you tell me.”

 

Her wet, sloppy face pressed against his chest. “That I said… you know…”

 

Luffy huffed impatiently. Why were women so dramatic?

 

“In bed…” She added after a moment. Luffy rolled his eyes and placed a hand firmly over the back of her head. His mind swirled with the entire exchange they had in his room after he had filled her up.

 

I love you.

 

He suddenly understood what she was talking about. He frowned deeply. She wanted to take her words back? The words that made Luffy feel so light?

 

“Are you really going to be a dumb girl right now?” He asked, annoyed as he threaded his fingers in her messy hair. “I’m not forgetting that you said that. That’s mine .”

 

Torao was quiet. She began to trace small patterns on his stomach. It tickled him slightly but felt very pleasant.

 

“Yours?” She then asked softly. Luffy nodded his head firmly. 

 

“Yeah. I’m not giving that back. It’s mine. Why do you want to take it back?”

 

There was the smallest shrug of shoulders. “Because it’s too early… and you don’t feel the same way.”

 

Luffy frowned at the tiled wall. He didn’t feel the same way? How did she know that? Luffy didn’t even know how he felt. He hadn’t put words to his feelings before.

 

“Well, how do you feel?” Luffy pressed, shifting slightly. The tub was hurting his butt. He would endure for Torao and her weird meltdown. He really didn’t understand girls. 

 

“Warm.” She murmured after a while. “Happy. Comfortable. Things I haven’t felt since… well, a while. I feel so light. My heart keeps going crazy around you…”

 

Luffy wondered if she was seeing how he felt and if she was copying him. “Well, that’s how I feel. I want to share my food with you.” Luffy told her. “And I never want to share with anyone. Not even Ace.”

 

Torao was quiet before she pulled back to look at him in disbelief, lips parted. Luffy aggressively rubbed her face to get rid of the tears. He didn’t even care that he got her snot all over his hand.

 

“Well, I won’t take it back then.” She said softly, lips twitching into a small smile. 

 

Luffy decided that he liked that side of Torao. It made him feel even more warm. What did that warmth mean? He didn’t know. All he knew was that she made him feel very warm. Especially in his heart. Maybe it was the love.

 

“So, does this mean we are official?” She asked hesitantly. Luffy rolled his eyes at her and stood up. His ass was aching from the side of the tub.

 

“Torao, I told you I was your boyfriend already a long time ago. I’m not sure what else you need.” He tugged her up roughly by her arm. “C'mon. Let’s get some snacks. I'm hungry.”

 

“It’s always about food with you.” And yet, she was smiling. Luffy’s stomach growled and he sighed. 

 

“It’s not my fault I’m always hungry. I’ve been working out a lot. ”

 

Torao smirked. “Oh, I know. You look hot.”

 

“What?” Luffy flushed deeply, not used to any other word besides cute . Torao laughed at his face before rolling her eyes and sliding her hands up his chest. 

 

“Yeah. I’ve been noticing. You’ve gained a lot of muscle mass. You look so healthy and hot. ”

 

And yet she was just as skinny as the first day he met her, if not more skinny. He kept that to himself.

 

“Yeah well you’ve gained a lot of love. ” Luffy teased. Torao rolled her eyes again and pushed him slightly.

 

“It doesn’t matter. C’mon. You’re hungry. And I need to pee.”

 

“You’re hungry.” Luffy muttered in a mocking way as he left her in the bathroom.

 

Ten minutes later, they were both sitting in the kitchen, both chewing thoughtfully on some fancy fruit tarts that were in the fridge. 

 

“Not bad.” Torao mused. “Is this custard?”

 

Luffy shrugged and shoved the entire tart into his mouth. Torao rolled her eyes and pulled another container toward her. She opened it and pursed her lips. 

 

“You sure we can eat all these?” She asked. Luffy shrugged and swallowed.

 

“I always do. Sanji would otherwise just throw it all away. He brings it for us. Doesn’t matter who eats it. They’d put their name if they wanted it.”

 

Torao smirked. “Well, this box says “doc” on it.”

 

“Oh, that must be you.” Luffy opened it and grinned before offering it to her. “Look. These ones are sharp!”

 

“Oh, I haven’t seen this type before.” Torao lifted one of the rice triangles and frowned. “I wonder what it is.”

 

“Be adventurous, Torao. Just bite it.”

 

Torao made a face but did just that. Luffy gasped when he noticed large chunks of what could only be meat inside of it . 

 

“Oh.” Torao murmured apprehensively after swallowing. “There’s beef and egg in it.”

 

“Wait, I want that!” Luffy yelled. Torao offered him the one she was biting and he glared at her. He was torn. He wanted to eat it but… Torao liked those. She really liked them. And it was a way to get her to eat meats and things that she normally didn’t like. 

 

“Actually I don’t want it.” Luffy said, chewing his lip. He shoved another tart in his mouth. It tasted like garbage. He didn’t want sweets. He wanted that. 

 

“You know, we could order… takeout.” Torao said, wiping her hands on a napkin after setting the rice triangle down. “There’s one other thing I will eat.”

 

“Huuuuh? What?!”

 

Torao didn’t say anything and simply walked back to Luffy’s room. She came back with her phone pressed to her ear. 

 

“Shachi.” She said immediately. “What’s the name of that Chinese restaurant on Fifth?”

 

Luffy kicked his legs excitedly from his seat on the kitchen counter as she spoke to her friend on the phone. He still kind of wanted to beat that guy up. Maybe they could go to Torao’s fancy condo again and invite him so he could do just that. As payback for making Torao cry. 

 

Luck was on Luffy’s side because her friend seemed to have bullied her into inviting him over. Of course the penguin-headed one would come, too. Luffy might need to talk to Torao about how easily she was able to be manipulated by others.

 

“They don’t have to stay.” Torao said immediately. “Please understand that.”

 

Luffy cracked his knuckles. Torao gave him an exasperated look. 

 

The two friends arrived not thirty minutes later. Torao opened the front door and let them in. They both looked at her in disbelief at what she was wearing. She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. 

 

“She’s wearing his clothes.” Shachi breathed. “It’s so serious.”

 

“Torao came over after work.” Luffy said helpfully. “She wanted to change clothes.”

 

“And where’s your shirt?! What’s on your neck?!”

 

Torao sighed in irritation. Luffy tilted his head at the several bags of food. 

 

“Are we gonna eat?!” He jumped down from the counter and ran around the island to get some plates. Shachi and Penguin both groaned upon seeing Luffy’s back. Luffy gave them a strange look as Torao flushed a deep red. 

 

“Nail marks all over his back.” Shachi said. 

 

“Don’t talk about Captain’s sex life.” Penguin said immediately. He held up the bags. “We got a shit ton of orange chicken.”

 

Luffy set up the plates on the counter excitedly as Torao excused herself to the restroom. He glared at the friends immediately. 

 

“Don’t embarrass her.” He told them. “And don’t be weird!”

 

“Huh?!” Penguin demanded, crossing his arms. “Are you giving us orders?! You aren’t our captain!” 

 

“We have known her for years. She’s our best friend!” Shachi added, crossing his arms as well. “You just show up and think you’re better than us?!”

 

Luffy also crossed his arms. “I didn’t even say that! I just said to be normal!”

 

“You don’t even know her.” Shachi huffed. “You’re just a fleeting moment in the grand scheme of things.”

 

“Yeah. She’s gonna get annoyed and ditch you.”

 

“Yeah, and she’s too pretty for you!”

 

“Yeah. And too tall!”

 

Luffy blinked before scratching the inside of his nostril. “Are you guys trying to make me upset or something? I know Torao isn’t going anywhere. Don’t be annoying. You guys want a drink?”

 

Luffy was pouring wine into four glasses when Torao returned. She immediately sat in one of the chairs and ran her fingers through her now tame hair. She must have brushed it in the bathroom. Luffy pushed a glass of wine toward her and she gave him an amused look. 

 

“Wine, huh? Are you wining and dining me?” She teased, earning surprised and disturbed looks from both of her friends. 

 

“She’s flirting , Shachi.” Penguin whispered loudly. “What do we do?”

 

“No idea, I’ve never seen her do that before.”

 

“Sanji says always to offer wine to guests.” Luffy said flatly. “Even the annoying ones.”

 

“Hey, Law called me.” Penguin defended. “She required my knowledge for the finest Chinese food in the city. She was hungry. I answered the call!”

 

“The wine ain’t bad.” Shachi said, gulping down his glass. “This is some fancy shit.”

 

“It’s from a fancy restaurant.” Torao said. “Luffy-ya’s friend works at the Baratie.”

 

“Wine and Chinese food. Some extra fancy shit.”

 

Luffy sat next to Torao and helped himself to an egg roll. It was crunchy and filled with chicken and vegetables and tiny noodles. He didn’t know what he wanted to eat next! There were so many options. Orange chicken and beef with those broccoli things and weird shrimps and something that looked like orange chicken again… And there was a lot of rice. And noodles. And many little fried things. 

 

Sanji could apparently sense the junk food and appeared with a scowl on his face. 

 

“I would have cooked.” He said angrily. “I can’t believe this. And who are these people?”

 

“Torao’s friends.” Luffy said around a bite of egg roll. “Sanji, she likes those.” He jabbed a finger to the small container labeled “doc” on the counter. “What are they?” Sanji rolled his eyes and lifted the container of noodles. 

 

“Gimbap.” He said as he inspected each and every container. “We had a special course on Korean cuisine. Some of them have kimchi inside.”

 

Luffy repeated the name to himself. Torao stole a piece of his orange chicken off his plate. 

 

“I could have cooked all of this.” Sanji muttered. “A fucking shame. A chance to cook for a lady and it was taken from me.”

 

“You can cook more.” Luffy said with a grin. “I would never say no to more meat!”

 

Luffy managed to eat over half of the food himself. Shachi and Penguin were both disgusted and intrigued as he put multiple containers of orange chicken and stir-fried noodles into his body. Torao kept glancing at him with a soft expression as she enjoyed her own orange chicken and steamed rice. 

 

“Captain is gone.” Shachi whispered loudly to Penguin as Sanji helped clean up the mess. “You see how she’s behaving?”

 

“Who is this guy? Why are we at his apartment? What’s happening?!” Penguin was pulling at the flaps of his hat.

 

“Stop being annoying.” Luffy said, pointing a finger at the both of them until they looked at him. He placed his other hand on Torao’s hair, causing her to grumble as she ate another bite of rice. “Torao is my girlfriend. Understand that.”

 

The two of them stared in disbelief. Even Sanji was shaking his head.

 

“It’s a lie!” Shachi yelled, standing up. “You’re a liar!”

 

“I don’t tell lies!” Luffy yelled back, his fingers gripping the edge of the counter. 

 

“Uhuh! Yeah right! Your girlfriend? And what’s with that weird nickname?! You’re slighting captain!”

 

“Yeah! Slighting!”

 

“Guys.” Torao muttered with exasperation clear in her voice. “Stop yelling.”

 

“Captain, you’re letting him put his greasy hands all over you and say such crazy things about you?” Penguin crossed his arms. “I don’t believe it.”

 

“Well, you better believe it.” Torao looked up with a glare. “I told you we were dating already.”

 

“Yeah… but…” Shachi hung his head in defeat. “He’s so… cute. It doesn’t fit…”

 

“I am not cute and it fits just fine if I go really slow.” Luffy said immediately, crossing his arms and pouting his lips. Torao shot him a look of horror while Penguin and Shachi burst out laughing. Sanji chuckled quietly. Luffy then locked his eyes onto Shachi, his unintended joke going right over his head. “Why do you call her ‘captain’ anyways?”

 

“That’s none of your business!” Shachi cried. “Shut up!”

 

“Yeah, none of your business.” Penguin echoed, crossing his arms and glaring. 

 

“It’s something stupid from when we were teenagers.” Torao muttered. “They won’t fucking stop.”

 

“Captain!” Both Shachi and Penguin cried out in disbelief. Luffy huffed out a breath.

 

“What’s all the commotion?” Zoro asked as he entered the kitchen. “Full house, huh?”

 

“Luffy’s bragging about getting lucky.” Sanji informed him. Luffy frowned as the two friends complained even louder. 

 

“Yeah, he doesn’t need to say anything about it. I’m sure the whole block heard him giving it to her an hour ago.” Zoro said with a smirk.

 

“Enough.” Torao snapped, though her cheeks were turning red. “Talk about anything else.”

 

“We want to know more though.” Shachi leaned close to Luffy, who leaned back. “Tell me about the piercing!”

 

“Oh my fucking god.” Torao snapped. 

 

“What, the nipples?” Sanji asked with interest. Torao’s face was so red it looked like she was going to explode. 

 

“Nah, I was there when she got those done.” Shachi said. “I’m talking about the other one.” 

 

“Shachi.” Torao growled. “Why are you so adamant about that?”

 

“It’s obvious.” Zoro snickered. “He’s jealous.”

 

“Huh?!” Shachi was now flushing, waving his hands around. “N-no! I’m not! I’m just curious!”

 

Torao grinned widely. “Oh, I didn’t notice that before. Do you have a crush on me, Shachi?”

 

“I just want to know if she pierced her clit or not. That’s all.” Penguin raised his hands, drawing the attention from his blushing friend. “Cmon, Luffy. Tell us.”

 

Luffy suddenly had several pairs of eyes on him, including Torao’s sharp glare. Luffy pursed his lips as he imagined her beautiful naked body in his mind. He knew what the clit was, of course. That little spot she liked when he sucked or even rubbed really hard. But her piercing was above that.

 

“No, she doesn’t.” Luffy said, grabbing another egg roll and shoving the entire thing into his mouth. “Ith not.”

 

Torao rolled her eyes while the rest of them expressed disbelief.

 

“Luffy doesn’t lie.” Zoro said immediately, giving them all stern looks. “It’s impossible for him. Go on. Try it out.”

 

“How long have you been screwing our captain?” Shachi demanded. Penguin wiggled his finger at him. 

 

“And how did you meet her?” He asked angrily. Luffy frowned at the fingers pointing at him and slapped them away. 

 

“Stop pointing at me, I don’t like it.” He lifted another egg roll. “Why you guys asking me that kinda stuff? You’re annoying. Torao, do you wanna play later?”

 

“He also has a short attention span.” Sanji said with a chuckle. “He does what he wants.”

 

“We met playing your game.” Torao explained as Lufffy jumped down from the counter again. Torao tugged him against her side and he gave her an annoyed look. Why was she being clingy?

 

“Oh, really?” Shachi frowned. “When? You barely play.”

 

“No, she deleted us from her friends list after we made fun of her names.” Penguin said, cackling. “Oh, man, that was like, four months ago. You never accepted our requests again!”

 

“Nah, it’s quieter without you guys. Well, it was. Until I met Luffy-ya.”

 

“He was stuck in the starting area.” Zoro said. “Wanted to fight six mobs himself. Refused to go the easier way.”

 

“What? There was another way?” Luffy demanded. Torao smirked at him. 

 

“Yeah. Through the path. You literally glitched yourself over a mountain.”

 

Luffy frowned. “Nah. There’s a path there.”

 

Torao rolled her eyes and rose to her feet. Luffy noticed that she winced slightly. 

 

“You okay, Torao?” He asked, grinning at her. He did it. She was definitely feeling it. 

 

She shot him a glare. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

 

“I can carry you.” Luffy supplied, wrapping his arms around her waist. “C’mon. I’ll carry you.”

 

“Get off me!”

 

But she was smiling at him with that warm look in her eyes and Luffy realized that those might be the hearts that his friends talked about. 

 

So he kissed her. 

 

Everyone immediately groaned and complained. Luffy didn’t care. He wanted to kiss his Torao. 

 

They ended up in the living room after they finished eating, all slammed together on the sofa. Torao was on Luffy’s lap, much to the irritation of everyone, but it was the only way for everyone to fit! Luffy was so excited to have a triple date. He wondered how far the romance went between Shachi and Penguin and decided he would ask Torao later. 

 

Luffy didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he was startled awake by something hitting him in the face. He blinked slowly, realizing that he was on the floor. What had happened? Last he remembered…

 

Luffy decided to swear off wine for a while. 

 

Luffy pushed Zoro’s arm away from his face and grumbled slightly. His stomach twisted with hunger and he looked around to find someone to make him food. What time was it anyway? He couldn’t see sunlight streaming through the window. Was it morning?

 

He staggered to his feet and leaned heavily against the arm of the sofa. He readjusted his hand as he pulled someone’s hair.

 

He blindly made his way to the kitchen and ripped open the fridge, squinting to read the names scrawled on each black container. He shrugged and grabbed six of them. 

 

He was eating through some pasta when Zoro appeared in the kitchen. He wordlessly sat next to Luffy on the counter, yanking open the drawer beneath them to retrieve a fork. He dug into Luffy’s box of pasta. They ate in silence, both blinking slowly.

 

Zoro broke that silence a few moments later with a loud belch that caused Luffy to burst out laughing. Zoro grinned widely. 

 

“I’m so glad we are back to normal.” He said gruffly, voice thick with sleep. “I missed you, Luf.”

 

“Yeah, we were being pretty dumb, right?” Luffy grinned widely. “Even Torao’s friends aren’t being too annoying this time!”

 

“Well, they are kissing her ass big-time. They fucked up, right?”

 

“What? They are kissing her ass?” Luffy glared. “I’m gonna beat them up.”

 

Zoro chuckled. “It’s an expression, Luf. No one would think twice to hit on her now that we know how serious you guys are. Even cook backed off.”

 

“Torao is my girlfriend.” Luffy said sternly. “I’ll punch anyone who tries to hurt her.”

 

“Yeah. She told us.” Zoro grinned again. “You punched her ex in the face?”

 

Luffy flexed his fist. “I did.”

 

“Did it feel good?”

 

“Nah, it kinda hurt. But Torao liked it.” Luffy finished the pasta with a loud slurp. “Wanna play the game?”

 

“Fuck yeah. Let’s go. Wanna bring our laptops out here?”

 

Luffy nodded excitedly. He ran back to his room to retrieve his laptop, stuttering slightly when he noticed Torao curled up on his bed. He blinked slowly before creeping to his desk to retrieve his computer. He then ran out of the room, gently swinging the door closed. 

 

“Here.” Zoro said, passing Luffy a glass of yellow liquid. “Let’s drink some good shit now. No more shitty wine.”

 

“I don’t really want to drink.” Luffy whined, smelling the glass. His stomach rumbled. 

 

“It’s basically liquid bread.” Zoro told him, his own laptop already on the counter. Luffy shrugged and downed the glass immediately. He was hungry. 

 

Luffy bounced in his seat as he followed Zoro through a gloomy-looking town. It was so boring. He couldn’t follow the story at all! Werewolves and somehow, zombies, eating the poor villagers. Why didn’t they move away? Why did they resign to their fate?

 

“This place sucks.” Luffy said flatly. “Everyone is useless.”

 

“Hey, this zone has a great storyline.” Zoro defended. “And stop being so loud. You’ll wake everyone up.”

 

“What are you doing awake?” Luffy then asked. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

 

“You stepped on my face when you got up.” Zoro muttered. “And I got hungry. I didn’t see your chick on the couch.”

 

“She’s in my bed.” Luffy chewed his fork longingly. The metal felt so funny against his tongue. He wished he had some more food to spear on the fork-

 

Something cracked. Zoro looked up at Luffy slowly, dread filling his eyes. Luffy slowly pulled the fork from his lips before finding the small piece of filling material with his tongue. He pinched it between two fingers before gazing down at it with a blank expression. 

 

“Way to go.” Zoro muttered. “She’s gonna find out you broke it.”

 

“Nah. She won’t.” Luffy flicked the piece across the kitchen, causing Zoro to snicker. 

 

Apparently, they were entirely too loud and Torao’s friends wandered into the kitchen. Luffy stared at their similar heads, trying to remember which was which. 

 

“Oh, sweet.” Shachi said excitedly, crowding Luffy’s space. “Wow, what an interesting UI!”

 

“Looks like Law set it up.” Penguin said with a grin. “We might want to just add it to the code. Put these other people out of business.”

 

“Go away.” Luffy huffed. Penguin crossed his arms. 

 

“Law is our best friend, kid.” He said sternly. “You better get along with us. We hold a lot of sway with her!”

 

“Yeah!” Shachi agreed. “She will listen to us if you’re mean to us!”

 

“Good luck with that.” Zoro said with a grin. “That girl is head over heels for Luffy. I don’t know why, either.”

 

Penguin deflated. “It’s true. Law won’t listen to us.”

 

“She encourages bullying.” Shachi agreed. 

 

As if summoned, Torao appeared. She slowly walked up to Luffy before leaning against his side heavily. Luffy glared at her and adjusted his computer. 

 

“Luffy is being mean to us.” Penguin told her. Torao gave a weak shrug. Luffy caught her eye and grinned at her, which was a mistake, because she immediately cupped his cheeks with an outraged expression. 

 

“What did you do?” She demanded, thumbs hooking into Luffy’s mouth. Luffy slid his tongue over her fingers. 

 

“He was gnawing on that fork.” Zoro snitched. “Snapped it right off like three minutes ago.”

 

“Thoro.” Luffy tried to say angrily around the fingers in his mouth, feeling betrayed. Torao was glaring deeply into Luffy’s eyes.

 

“She’s gonna kill him.” Penguin breathed. 

 

“She’s so weird about teeth.” Shachi gasped. 

 

“She already fixed that.” Zoro added. “Luffy, why were you chewing on a fork?”

 

Torao sighed and pressed a gentle kiss to Luffy’s forehead, earning a look of utter disbelief from each person in the kitchen. 

 

“We can fix it later.” She whispered, pinching his cheek slightly. “You have to be more careful, okay? Is it sensitive?”

 

Luffy frowned at her, not knowing how to process that nice Torao. 

 

“I was thinking-” Torao continued before glaring at every other person in the room. “Can you guys fuck off?”

 

“This is my apartment.” Zoro responded. “Don’t be so cranky.”

 

Shachi and Penguin gasped dramatically. Luffy leaned his head forward to rub his nose against Torao’s. She focused her attention back on him with those heart eyes again. 

 

“We could go to the beach tomorrow.” She whispered, hand sliding down his arm to his wrist. “I know you wanted to go before.”

 

“Yes, it’s a date.” Luffy said with a wide grin. She tsked at him. 

 

“We’ll fix your tooth, too. You look like a pirate.”

 

“Don’t tell him that.” Zoro said immediately. Luffy simply swelled with happiness. Torao always gave him the best compliments.

 

###

 

Chapter 16: 16

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Piling seven people into Torao’s Mach-E was, in hindsight, a horrible idea. 

 

For one, the car only had five seats. Torao was driving and Zoro was in the passenger seat, because he was the biggest. Luffy was forced into the back between Sanji and the boneheads, with Chopper on Sanji’s lap. Luffy could still reach the radio from the back, much to Torao’s irritation. The loud pop music in combination with the three conversations was grating on her nerves and Luffy could tell because of how she grinded her teeth and clenched her fists on the steering wheel.

 

They made a stop at Torao’s condo so that she could get her own bathing suit. Chopper and Luffy had let Penguin and Shachi borrow some of their swim trunks to avoid making more stops. Luffy had his straw hat on his head, which he had proudly showed Torao with a twinkle in his eye. She had tried very hard to be impressed by it, which he liked a lot.

 

He watched Torao walk back up to the car, his knees on his spot so that he could lean across the middle console as he examined her strange choice of bathing suit. She got into the car too quickly and he couldn’t see it fully, but he did tug on the patterned cover with interest. She shot him a scowl before starting the car. Luffy sat back in his spot with a huff.

 

Sanji continued to grumble because the car did not have enough space for his entire grill and he would be forced to use the public grills. Luffy was excited because Torao said they could also stop at the grocery store to buy a bunch of food on the way to the beach. They were going to the coast in the next town over because the beach had purple sand and was super cool, as Chopper had said before he started to explain why the sand was purple.

 

Luffy didn’t realize he wouldn’t be able to go inside the store and stared at Torao with a betrayed look as she slammed her door without another word to him. 

 

He grumbled loudly from the backseat as he reached up to change the radio station again. It wasn’t fair that Sanji got to go inside with Torao. Why did he have to stay in the car?

 

“I hope they get floaties.” Chopper said sadly. “We can’t swim, Luffy.”

 

“That’s not important.” Luffy muttered, his stomach rumbling with hunger. “Does she have snacks in here?”

 

“There’s no eating allowed in Captain’s car.” Shachi said immediately. 

 

“Yeah, stop moving around so much. You’re gonna mess something up.”

 

“Shut up.” Luffy snapped before sticking his tongue out at the two. “You’re so annoying!”

 

He kicked off his Crocs and clambered into the front seat, earning a raised eyebrow from Zoro. Luffy folded his legs and opened all of the compartments he could reach. He found chewing gum in the center console and shoved two sticks into his mouth, discarding the wrappers in the cupholder. He made a face at the burst of mint that filled his nostrils.

 

“She’s gonna be pissed.” Shachi muttered. 

 

“”Did you know that chewing gum is only dentist approved if it’s sugar free?” Chopper piped up unhelpfully, leaning forward to look at Zoro. “And the best flavor is watermelon!”

 

“That’s not a statistic.” Penguin protested. “That’s your personal preference!”

 

“I prefer cinnamon.” Zoro said, crossing his arms. He raised an eyebrow at Luffy again as he turned on the windshield wipers. Luffy chewed the gum for a few more seconds before swallowing it. Chopper and Zoro immediately began to bicker about the safety of swallowing chewing gum while Luffy messed with the touch screen in the center of the car. He clicked through several different playlists of music, causing the others in the car to complain as different types of music repeatedly flooded the car.

 

Torao returned then, a deep scowl already on her face before she pulled open the driver side door. Luffy grinned at her until her eyes softened slightly. She immediately scowled again and crossed her arms.

 

“How wonderful for you to volunteer to drive.” She said flatly. Luffy widened his eyes. 

 

“Oh, I can’t drive.” He told her. “Sanji can drive! We can sit together in the back-”

 

“No!” Zoro and Sanji barked immediately. Luffy pouted and Torao made a sharp hand gesture for him to move. He climbed back to his seat, grinning madly at the two boneheads who had moved slightly into his spot.

 

“You do look like a pirate with your tooth broken like that.” Shachi told him. “It looks stupid.”

 

“I think he looks cute.” Chopper said cheerfully. “Did you know that the success rate of anterior composite resin restorations is only thirty-eight percent?!”

 

“You should go to a real dentist.” Zoro said, earning a gasp of disbelief from Penguin. Torao shut the driver side door before walking to the trunk to open it for Sanji.

 

“You should know that Captain attended an accelerated dental program!” He said heatedly. “She’s more than qualified to work on stupid people’s front teeth!”

 

“Only smart people can get into that program!” Shachi added as Sanji loaded up the trunk with the groceries they had purchased. Luffy ignored them and rotated around to peek into the grocery bags, his mouth watering at the amount of red meat he saw.

 

“It’s true.” Chopper said. “You shouldn’t be mean about her, Zoro. Did you ever get that root canal that you needed?”

 

“I don’t need a root canal.” Zoro scoffed. “That quack just wanted to get me to pay for shit I don’t need. Tooth doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

 

“Your front tooth is discolored because Nami punched you in the face.” Sanji muttered, adjusting a few bags of multicolored vegetables that Luffy didn’t care about. “Just because it doesn’t hurt anymore doesn’t mean it’s fine.”

 

“Yeah, and Torao can do it!” Chopper said excitedly. Torao did not look excited as she loaded a bag of ice into the trunk. 

 

“I am not doing a root canal.” She muttered. Luffy smiled at her widely.

 

“You gonna fix my tooth for me, Torao?” He asked sweetly. Torao glared at him. 

 

“Not if you are going to be chewing on forks. Who the fuck chews on forks?”

 

Luffy grinned sheepishly, adjusting his straw hat on his head. “Yeah, my bad!”

 

Torao helped Sanji make space for the different boxes of alcohol and Luffy watched with mild interest.

 

“Fuck it.” Shachi muttered to himself as he pulled a ball-shaped glass filled with a creamy-colored liquid from his bag on the floor between his legs. “I’m getting wasted if I need to sit back here for an hour with this child. ”

 

“Stop being a dick to Luffy-ya.” Torao snapped with an icy glare. “Can’t you people behave?”

 

“He took his shoes off!” Penguin defended. “Aren’t there etiquette rules?!”

 

“They aren’t really shoes, if you ask me.” Shachi muttered.

 

“Hey, my feet are clean!” Luffy protested. 

 

“It doesn’t matter! What are you, a monkey?!”

 

Luffy decided to touch him with his feet, causing loud screams of fright. Chopper giggled excitedly, arms wrapping around Zoro’s seat to grab onto him.

 

“Luffy is so funny!” He said in delight. Zoro smirked.

 

“Bunch of animals.” Torao muttered to herself before slamming the trunk closed.

 

The hour-long drive to Water 7 was spent with Luffy being unnaturally silent. He was deep in thought about how he could convince Torao that he knew how to swim, as to not embarrass himself or give her more things to pick on him about. He was slightly bummed that the first real day he got to spend with Torao in a while was going to be spent with his and her friends, but he figured that it would still be a nice trip. He hadn’t ever been to the purple beach before but he had been to Water 7 with Ace and Sabo when they were kids.

 

Luffy picked at his fingernails as he thought about his estranged brother. Sabo usually kept in contact but had been so quiet since Ace had died. Maybe he didn’t want to talk to Luffy anymore.

 

“Luffy?” Chopper asked hesitantly. “What’s wrong?”

 

Luffy looked up at his friend with a sad smile. “I’m good.” He told him. “I was thinking about Sabo.”

 

“We haven’t heard from him in a while.” Zoro grunted from the front seat. “You talk to your gramps lately, Luf?”

 

“Nah. He sends me money every month but as long as I’m behaving he doesn’t call me.” Luffy kicked his feet up onto the center console in front of him and spread his toes slightly. “Gramps is busy.”

 

“He’s always been busy.” Zoro crossed his arms and peeked back at Luffy. “Did you tell him ‘bout Torao?”

 

“Huh? No.” Luffy shrugged and crossed his own arms and his ankles. “He only wants to talk about me joining the marines. He won’t care.”

 

“What about your mom?” Sanji pressed. Luffy clenched his teeth and didn’t dignify that with an answer.

 

Torao and her friends were silent. Luffy adjusted himself in his seat slightly before sighing. He really wanted to hear from Sabo.

 

“Tell me about Sabo.” Torao suddenly said. Luffy perked up with a smile. 

 

“Sabo is my second oldest brother.” He said proudly. “He’s blonde and likes to take pictures of everything he sees. He’s been traveling the world to bring modern technology to poor people who need it. He’s taller than me and also went to university for a long time!”

 

“I see. And he doesn’t talk to you?”

 

Luffy shrugged, feeling bummed out again. “Not really since Ace died.”

 

“Strange.”

 

“I wanna know about your uncle.” Luffy then said, early dreadful looks from Shachi and Penguin. Torao’s hands tightened on her steering wheel but she let out a scoff. 

 

“What about him? He’s a piece of shit.”

 

“Don’t ask about him.” Shachi breathed against Luffy’s face. Luffy pulled away with a scowl. His breath smelled like alcohol.

 

“I will ask whatever I want.” He said in response. “If Torao doesn’t want to talk about it, she will tell me.”

 

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Torao said before getting off the freeway. “He’s a piece of shit who should be in prison but somehow eludes it. He comes around every few months to play house and leaves after bothering me enough. Sometimes he brings my cousins. Sometimes he doesn’t.”

 

“He wears a big ugly coat.” Penguin added. “And these little sunglasses.”

 

“Sounds like Doflamingo.” Zoro snickered. Torao shot him a surprised look. 

 

“He is Doflamingo.”

 

Zoro blanched. “ What? Your uncle is Donquixote Doflamingo?”

 

Torao was frowning. “Yeah.”

 

“What the fuck?”

 

“What do you mean ‘what the fuck’?” Torao demanded, swerving the car into the next lane over. Chopper let out a distressed noise and latched onto Sanji.

 

“Your uncle knows my dad.” Zoro stated vaguely. “ And Luffy’s mom.”

 

“The sand is purple!” Luffy suddenly shouted, barreling forward to lean between Zoro and Torao as he pointed excitedly toward the visible ocean. “Look!”

 

Torao wordlessly pulled into a sandy parking lot, the atmosphere of the car tense. She waited for a Prius to leave before parking in its spot and shutting off the car. She then turned her head to Zoro slightly. 

 

“Let’s get everything unpacked.” She said. “Then we can chat about our families.”

 

Luffy was very happy to stretch out his arms and legs after being crammed in the back seat for so long. He wiggled his limbs and jumped around wildly, laughing. The sand was already in his Crocs, but he didn’t mind. The air was crisp and smelled like the sea and he was happy. 

 

He helped unload the car onto an available table that Sanji spotted a good distance away. Sanji inspected the black grill when they got there a few minutes later before immediately spraying it down and scrubbing it with a large brush. Zoro rolled his eyes at him as he stretched a white plastic tablecloth over the stone surface of the table. 

 

“There’s so many snacks.” Luffy said excitedly, watching as Torao removed each item from the many grocery bags. “Look at the meat!”

 

“And desserts!” Chopper added happily, holding up a package of chocolates. “Can we make smores?!”

 

“Help me with the ice chest.” Torao said softly to Luffy, adjusting her cover on her shoulders. “So we can have some cold drinks.”

 

“I can do it!” Chopper said excitedly, already grabbing two bags of ice.

 

Luffy sat on the bench and watched Chopper help Torao with his head tilted slightly as he kicked off his sandy Crocs. Torao’s outfit was so funny to him. He liked the purple and yellow fabric but had a hard time deciding if the pattern resembled flowers or clouds. He tilted his head the other way, eyes moving down her pale, tattooed legs to her simple flip-flops. Hopefully the sun could give her some color and hopefully she ate some meat.

 

He jolted when Zoro clamped a hand on his shoulder.

 

“I’ll race you to the water.” He said with a grin. Luffy grinned back and clambered to his feet before taking off running. Zoro bolted after him with a laugh. They crossed the bike path before vaulting over the low wall onto the sand, Luffy laughing wildly the entire time. 

 

Luffy didn’t think twice as he barreled into the freezing cold ocean, moving at a quick speed. Zoro called after him but he was too focused on winning that he forgot that the ocean had waves and currents. A wall of water immediately slammed into him and he was thrown onto his back. He sucked in a breath, only the air was water and he immediately choked and thrashed around. 

 

He was immediately pulled from the water by the back of his shirt by Zoro who was giving him a hard look. Luffy coughed slightly before grinning sheepishly. 

 

“I forgot.” He said without concern. Zoro shook his head with a smirk before shoving his straw hat over his face. Luffy adjusted it with a snicker.

 

“That was incredibly elegant.” He told him, setting him on his feet. “I bet Torao liked it.”

 

Torao did not, in fact, like it. She immediately smacked him in the head when they returned to the table. 

 

“You can’t swim?” She demanded. “You idiot!”

 

“I forgot.” Luffy grinned again. “But Zoro saved me!”

 

They spent the next two hours running around and getting sunburnt, as Zoro and Luffy had both neglected to apply sunscreen. Chopper continued to spout facts about the sun's rays as Sanji prepared the grill for cooking. Torao removed her fancy covering, revealing a very boring black bathing suit. Luffy examined her carefully. Didn’t women usually show off their bodies or something? Why was she so covered up? Luffy didn’t even realize they made bathing suits for women that were one piece.

 

“You gonna stare at me or help me with the sunscreen?” Torao asked flatly, golden eyes locking onto Luffy. He gestured to her bathing suit with one hand as he grabbed the yellow bottle of sunscreen. 

 

“Why?” He asked vaguely. She rolled her eyes and turned around, lowering herself down to her knees in front of him. She gathered her hair up with one hand, revealing the back of her neck. Her bathing suit revealed nearly her entire back, which Luffy thought was funny. He squirted her back with the sunscreen before rubbing it into her skin, lightly tracing her tattoos.

 

“It’s more comfortable.” Torao said. “Bikinis always shift when I get into the water. This one usually stays in place.”

 

Luffy slid his hand down her spine with a hum. He didn’t miss her slight shiver. 

 

“So your top comes off?” Sanji asked casually from the grill. Torao stiffened before her heavy glare pierced him on the spot. 

 

Luffy wanted to watch Sanji grill in case he got to taste some things but Torao did a good job of not asking him to accompany her to the water. 

 

“I’m going to the water.” She had said. 

 

“Have fun!” Luffy had said. That had earned several bony elbows into his sides. 

 

So he followed behind Torao happily, his shirt discarded on the bench with his friends. Zoro trailed behind them, either a buffer or a lifeguard, Luffy didn’t know. 

 

Torao stepped into the water and shivered slightly. Luffy bounced around excitedly, dropping to his knees to examine the small shells he could see in the clear water. They managed to get waist deep before Torao suddenly shrieked, jumping onto Luffy. He lost his footing immediately and they were both dunked into the water. 

 

Torao also could not swim. 

 

Zoro pulled them both out of the water by their arms, letting out a deep breath. Torao sputtered slightly, looking so funny that Luffy bursted out laughing. She scowled at him but wrapped her arms around herself, shivering.

 

Their attention was caught by a large, older man waving at them from a light blue surfboard a few yards away. “You kids good?” He called over the roaring of the ocean. Luffy shot him a thumbs up and a grin. 

 

“We are good! Thanks!”

 

“The waters are rough today! Begging to be sailed! Keep your heads above the water!”

 

Luffy watched the man paddle away, tilting his head slightly. What a nice guy.

 

“What happened?” Luffy finally asked Torao, grinning as he regained his footing. She stood close to him, peering at the sand apprehensively. 

 

“I saw a fish.” She explained. “One of those flat ones.”

 

“What, a jellyfish?” Luffy peered around. “They’re invisible, how did you see it?”

 

“No, idiot , some sort of ray or something. And Jellyfish are not flat. Or invisible.”

 

Luffy shrugged without interest, glancing around the water. “I don’t really care about fish.”

 

“He likes bugs.” Zoro said from nearby. Torao glanced at him briefly. 

 

“Thanks.” She said. “For saving us.”

 

“No problem. I’m used to it with that one.” He nodded toward Luffy, who had begun to venture deeper. “He has no sense of fear. Plus, your friends informed me you can’t swim.”

 

“Maybe we will see a shark or something.” Luffy said excitedly, nearly tripping as the seafloor suddenly dipped down. 

 

“Don’t joke about that.” Torao said stiffly, glancing around uneasily. “Let’s go back, Luffy-ya.”

 

“I'll protect you.” Luffy told her firmly, giving her a heated look. “With my life. Want to ride on my back?”

 

Torao nearly melted into the water, judging by how red her face got. Luffy swore he saw some steam but held still as Torao slowly approached him. She wordlessly wrapped her arms around his shoulders before looping her legs around his waist. Luffy reached down and gripped her thighs with a grin. 

 

Torao was silent as Luffy waded back and forth chest-deep in the cool water. He felt through the sand with his toes, loving every second of where he was at that moment. Zoro retrieved each and every shell that Luffy wanted and kept a small collection for him. 

 

They ventured back to the coast around an hour later, when the sun had just begun to dip down in the sky. Even after they were out of the water, Torao tightened her arms around Luffy. Luffy adjusted his hold on her thighs, bouncing her slightly. 

 

“You are so light.” He said with a snicker. Torao hid her face in his shoulder with some mumbled words that he did not hear.

 

Sanji had a nice stack of meat when they returned to the table. Luffy gentle set Torao down on the bench on top of a multicolored towel. He began to move away but she caught him by his waistline, tugging gently. Luffy gave her a questioning look but her eyes were averted. Her cheeks were slightly pink as well and Luffy smiled to himself before pressing a soft kiss to her nose.

 

“None of that.” Penguin said immediately. “No, no.”

 

“I agree.” Sanji said with a wide grin, cigarette bobbing. “Keep your monkey hands off of the lady.”

 

Luffy took that as a challenge and caught Torao’s lips against his own, early several slaps to his back in protest. He felt her tongue pressing against him and quickly tilted his head to deepen the kiss. She tasted slightly salty from the water but Luffy could still taste her, which was addicting to him. 

 

“Don’t challenge Luffy.” Zoro said from behind him. Luffy pulled back slightly, Torao’s breath ragged across his lips. He kissed her again, softly that time, before straddling the bench and sitting right next to her. Torao leaned against him, her fingers finding his. Luffy traced his thumb over her tattoos before tugging her hand up to his mouth so that he could press kisses all over her skin. 

 

“Luffy-ya…” Torao mumbled, her face as red as Luffy’s shorts. Luffy glimpsed those hearts in her eyes again and leaned closer to her to whisper in her ear, his chest exploding with tingles and warmth.

 

“Love you, Torao.”

 

Torao stiffened and stared at him with wide eyes. He noticed the vulnerability and scooted closer to her, realizing that she needed a lot of reassurances.

 

“I do.” He continued. “Do you believe me?”

 

Torao was quiet but instead of answering leaned against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her hair. He glanced around and was glad that everyone else was too busy with loading up their plates with food to pay attention to them. He had a feeling that Torao didn’t want to be the center of attention.

 

“A little.” She finally admitted, scooting even closer. Luffy kissed her hair.

 

“I’ll just keep telling you lots then. You hungry?”

 

Torao hesitated and Luffy hugged her closer. His stomach growled gently.

 

“We can eat in a little bit.” He whispered. “Are you cold?”

 

“A little.” She breathed. “But you’re warm.”

 

“I bet you’re warm.” Luffy breathed against her ear, feeling daring. Torao shifted slightly. Luffy glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before sliding his hand down to the curve of her hip. Torao’s breath hitched.

 

“Let’s… I have some extra clothes in my car.” She said, sitting up suddenly. “Would you mind going with me?”

 

“Dry clothes?” Luffy asked, frowning. What was with the change of subject? Did she not want to talk all spicy like that?

 

“What are you guys talking about?” Chopper asked cheerfully, a large slice of watermelon in his hands. Luffy stood up. 

 

“Torao said she has dry clothes in her car and she’s cold.” He said. “We are gonna go get them.”

 

“What, she’s too good for a towel?” Sanji asked, frowning deeply. “The food’s gonna get cold.”

 

“Her cover is still dry.” Shachi said, holding up the thin piece of fabric. Torao stood up and wordlessly began walking toward her car across the grass. Luffy shrugged and followed her, earning a few laughs. He really didn’t get it.

 

He could barely see the table from her car because of how dark it had gotten. Luffy shivered slightly, grateful that Torao had thought to grab extra clothes. She unlocked the car and immediately climbed into the backseat before reaching into the front seat to turn off the lights. Luffy watched her in confusion as she moved to lay on her back. She reached between her legs and undid a few clasps, causing the bathing suit to spring up, revealing herself to him. 

 

“Come here.” She said immediately. “And shut the door.”

 

Luffy widened his eyes before clambering into the car, his cock reaching full hardness in record time. Was that why she insisted on coming to the car? She wanted him?

 

Luffy kissed her wildly, crowding between her legs. Her cold fingers tugged at his swim trunks before she was shoving them down. He wiggled his hips as the damp fabric stuck to his thighs. Luffy pressed closer, biting Torao’s lower lip before sucking it and surging forward. He winced as his head hit the door of the car and adjusted himself, one leg extended on the floor as he knelt between her bare thighs.

 

“I don’t have lube.” She gasped, pulling back from his lips. Luffy immediately spit between her legs, causing her to suck in a breath in surprise. He dripped more saliva against his exposed cock before pumping it in his hand.

 

“Fuck me now.” Torao demanded, grabbing him almost painfully around the shoulders. He plunged a finger deep into her without another word, his dick jumping in excitement as he felt just how wet she was for him. Torao cried out in pure bliss, her teeth grabbing onto his shoulder. Luffy removed his finger before lining himself up with her entrance. He pushed inside slowly, his toes curling at the warmth and tightness as it surrounded him.

 

“ Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Torao chanted, arching her back. Luffy raised himself up as best he could before sliding his hands underneath her ass to tug her forward. Her knee was bent because she was too tall and he pushed it up near her shoulder before he pulled her other leg to extend out around his hip. He drilled into her wildly, the vehicle shaking around them with each powerful thrust. Luffy lost himself in her heat, each thrust eliciting a delicious noise from her that encouraged him to move deeper. Torao was a moaning mess, her fingers desperately pinching and pulling at him. He kissed her deeply, tongue sloppy against hers. 

 

Car sex sucked. But Torao was so needy and hot. Luffy couldn’t tear his eyes away from her face. She was completely blissed out, eyes closed and lips parted. Her eyebrows were creased slightly as she moved her hips to seek out her own pleasure from him. Luffy mindlessly brought his hand to her face, pressing his thumb against her lips. Her tongue immediately slid over his skin before her lips closed around him, sucking softly. His thrusts stuttered in surprise before he began again with renewed vigor, thrusting so hard that the suspension of the car groaned around him. Luffy withdrew his thumb and immediately pressed it against her clit, rubbing rough circles on her. She let out a scream as her orgasm rocked her body, tugging Luffy down to kiss him sloppily. Luffy felt his own release hit him and he pressed into her deeply, coating her insides. 

 

“D-don’t pull out.” She gasped against his mouth, legs wrapping around him tightly. “Oh, my god .”

 

As if Luffy would ever do that. He jerked his hips against her until he finished releasing. He then let out a ragged breath, heart hammering in his ringing ears. 

 

“The seats.” Torao muttered, her hot breath washing over his face. “Fuck, I have some napkins in the center console. It’s gonna come out.”

 

Luffy realized she was talking about his come and snickered breathlessly, pressing open mouthed kisses against the column of her throat. He felt her swallow against his lips.

 

“Don’t let it come out.” He told her firmly, thrusting deeper for effect. She gasped in pleasant surprise, fingers digging into his lower back. 

 

“Stay inside me.” She begged. “Please.”

 

“I’m not going anywhere.” He responded, biting at her skin. “You better keep it all inside.”

 

He pulled back slightly to reach over to her center console, clicking the buttons to open it. He pulled out several brown napkins. Torao immediately snatched them from him and let out a soft sigh. 

 

“Fuck. Do you think we were suspicious?” She asked softly. “They kept talking…”

 

“Who cares?” Luffy grinned at her. “You needed a dicking.”

 

“Please stop calling it that.” Torao glared at him. Luffy bent his neck to kiss her again.

 

They shared kisses that probably should never be seen by anyone else for around fifteen minutes before Torao seemed to remember they had been gone for a suspicious amount of time. Luffy pulled out his rehardened cock with a smirk and Torao gave him a wild look. He couldn’t resist plunging it back into her and fucking into her wildly until he filled her again. 

 

“You’re a fucking animal.” Torao breathed, holding the napkins between her legs. “This is insane.”

 

“I could go again in, like, two minutes.” Luffy told her as he tucked himself back into his swim shorts. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

 

Torao needed more napkins and Luffy retrieved them before helping her reclasp her bathing suit. They unstuck themselves from the leather seats with a wince before Torao made sure that there was no mess left in the backseat. They then moved to the trunk of the car as sneakily as two people leaving the back of a car together could to hastily pull on the dry clothes they had initially come for. Luffy pulled on a white shirt while Torao slid her long legs into a pair of frayed shorts. The way they framed her ass was amazing and Luffy couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. 

 

“Those look nice.” Luffy blurted. Torao raised an eyebrow at him before tugging him closer by the front of his shirt. They wasted several more minutes fighting for dominance with their mouths against the side of the car. 

 

The table was eerily silent as they returned. Chopper looked extremely upset and was poking at his half-eaten watermelon. Torao wordlessly grabbed a can of beer, opened it, and downed it in a few drinks, rivaling Zoro’s drinking skills. Zoro was giving Luffy a knowing look and he simply smiled sheepishly.

 

“What’s wrong with Chopper?” He asked cheerfully, finally pulling a large plate of grilled meat to himself. It was cold but it was fine. It still tasted heavenly.

 

“Chopper went to the car to get his notebook.” Zoro said with a satisfied grin. Torao stiffened slightly but her face didn’t reveal anything.

 

“Oh. And?” Luffy asked around a mouthful of meat.  Chopper glared up at him, tears shining in his eyes.

 

“And you guys are gross!” He yelled. “Really?! I have to sit there!”

 

Torao composed herself and smirked at him. “What makes you think that was the first time, Tony-ya?”

 

There was a groan amongst their friends. Shachi and Penguin even seemed uncomfortable. Luffy chewed his meat happily, unbothered. Sanji was such a good cook!

 

“I need another beer.” Sanji muttered. Luffy laughed happily and accepted whatever beverage Zoro handed him.

 

They sat at the table well into the night, snacking on meat and treats and drinking different kinds of alcohol. Torao had even eaten a few slices of steak, much to the surprise of Luffy, and even enjoyed nearly the entire bowl of pineapple and strawberries by herself. 

 

The real surprise was the fact that Torao seemed to love chocolate. Luffy didn’t know why he was surprised because he remembered that nasty cake she loved was coffee and chocolate flavored, but the sight of Torao shoving nearly an entire bar of chocolate into her mouth at once with her boneheaded friends yelling behind her was one to behold. Luffy loved sweets too, as much as anyone, but Torao really loved them. 

 

“Hide those.” Shachi snapped as Chopper piled marshmallows onto a metal skewer. “She will eat all of the chocolate.”

 

“Don’t fucking touch it.” Torao snapped, snatching from the small man. He shrieked. Sanji snatched the bag of chocolate with a scowl.

 

“I thought I had to worry about Luffy.” He muttered. “This is ridiculous.”

 

Luffy snatched a chocolate bar before sitting next to Torao in front of the fire. He offered it to her with a soft smile. 

 

“Luffy.” Chopper said happily. “I’m making you a marshmallow!”

 

“Thanks, Chopper.” Luffy responded, stretching out his legs. His Crocs were still discarded somewhere nearby. Torao had her legs crossed underneath her and was gazing into the flames silently.

 

“More beer?” Zoro asked with a grin, offering two opened beers between them. Torao accepted it wordlessly while Luffy pouted. 

 

“How’s your breathing?” Chopper asked Luffy suddenly, gesturing to the fire. Luffy waved him off and crossed his ankles. 

 

“I feel great. I love the ocean air.”

 

“Do you normally have trouble breathing?” Torao asked, blinking at him. He shrugged and took a sip of his own beer, making a face.

 

“Not since right after my surgery.” He told her. “Chopper always worries about me, though.”

 

“I’m going to be your doctor.” Chopper told him sternly. “It’s my job to worry about you. Now eat these s’mores.”

 

Luffy gladly accepted the three misshapen cookie sandwiches. He offered one to Torao, who took one and immediately bit into it. She returned the rest to Luffy. 

 

“It’s weird to see you share food.” Chopper said flatly. “I will never get used to it.”

 

Luffy finished the rest of the s’more with one bite. 

 

“It’s weird to see Law accept food.” Shachi added as he and Penguin sat down on either side of Chopper. 

 

“I’m surprised she’s eaten anything that was here today.” Penguin said with a wide grin. “Usually she only eats rice and drinks coffee!”

 

“It’s true.” Luffy said with a nod. “She has so many kinds of coffee.”

 

“I forgot you snooped in my pantry.” Torao muttered before downing her fourth beer for the night. Zoro immediately tossed her another before moving closer to Sanji, who was doing something with the leftover food.

 

“So, Luffy.” Shachi said with carefully articulated indifference. “Tell me about mommy. ”

 

Chopper clapped excitedly, stars in his eyes. Luffy made a face. 

 

“My mom? Why?”

 

“Because she knows Captain’s uncle and I want to know how. ”

 

“They are old war buddies.” Zoro announced, sitting next to Torao. Sanji sat on his other side. “Same with Mihawk and his, uh…”

 

“Zoro’s dad has two boyfriends.” Luffy snickered. “It’s so weird!”

 

“My dad is married.” He corrected. “I told you, Buggy is just his weird best friend. Like us, Luffy.”

 

Luffy hummed in feigned understanding. “Perona told me she saw Buggy and Shanks kissing up on each other last year.”

 

“Do you kiss up on Zoro, Luffy-ya?” Torao asked with a grin. “Are you guys really good friends?”

 

“Nah, I don’t kiss Zoro.” Luffy laughed, the idea completely wild to him. “That’s so weird! He’s my best friend!”

 

“Hey, wait.” Chopper said, creasing his brows. “You don’t like Zoro more than me, do you?”

 

“You heard him, doc.” Zoro said with a wide grin. “I’m the best friend of Luffy. Not you, not cook, not the witch. Me. ”

 

“That’s not fair!” Chopper cried. “I changed his bandages and- and-”

 

“It doesn’t really matter.” Luffy waved his hand as if he hadn’t just ruined Chopper’s life with his words. “That’s just what Perona told me. Perona is Zoro’s sister.” He quickly explained to Torao. “Shanks is my second best friend, and-”

 

“He isn’t your best friend.” Zoro interjected. “He’s a grown-ass man. That’s weird, Luffy.”

 

“He gave me his hat.” Luffy protested. “He’s my best friend!”

 

“Was he… preying on you?” Shachi asked slowly. “Did he touch you, Luffy?”

 

Luffy dropped his jaw. “ What? Of course he touched me! He saved me from drowning and his arm got bit off by an alligator!”

 

“Oh my God.” Torao pinched the bridge of her nose. Luffy crossed his arms and glared at Shachi. 

 

“You’re so annoying!” He yelled, which caused Chopper to giggle excitedly.

 

“It was actually a crocodile that bit his arm off.” He said cheerfully. “Alligators don’t live in that geographical location!”

 

“Huh? I thought Crocodile was his mom.” Zoro muttered. That got Torao’s attention.

 

“My mom’s name is Eileen.” Luffy said in defiance. “‘Crocodile’ is just a nickname since she turned into a man and joined a biker gang.”

 

“This is just getting weirder and weirder.” Penguin muttered to Shachi. 

 

“Wait, Crocodile is your mother?” Torao asked in surprise. She turned to Zoro. “Did you say ‘Mihawk’ earlier?”

 

“Yeah.” Zoro took a swig of a large bottle of alcohol. “I’m adopted.”

 

“Also your mom isn’t in a biker gang.” Sanji corrected. “She’s in a gang and rides a motorcycle. Those things are mutually exclusive.”

 

“Oh yeah, that’s what I said.” Luffy rolled his eyes. He drank some more of his beer before handing it off to Torao, who had finished her other one. 

 

“That’s funny.” Zoro mused. “The world is so small.”

 

“Doflamingo is a fucking psycho though.” Sanji said, lighting a cigarette in the fire before them. “That dude always reserves the entire restaurant to host his creepy get togethers twice a year.”

 

Torao stiffened at his words and Luffy frowned at her. 

 

“Don’t worry.” Luffy told her. “If he comes around here, I’ll kick his ass.”

 

“You know what? I believe you.” Torao said, stretching her arms up. “I really believe you.”

 

Luffy grinned at her and gently knocked his shoulder against hers. 

 

“So what’ does your dad do?” Shachi asked.

 

“Dunno.” Luffy shrugged. “I don’t talk to him.”

 

“He’s into some shady shit.” Zoro explained. “I’ve never met the guy.”

 

“But you’ve met Crocodile?” Torao asked in disbelief. Zoro smirked. 

 

“Yeah, it’s a real funny story. It was right after I met Ace for the first time.”

 

“Oh yeah, that was funny.” Luffy grinned. “Ace was so surprised!”

 

“That was when we went to the desert.” Sanji supplied. “And Luffy got us kicked out of the casino and locked in jail.”

 

“Crocomom bailed us out.” Zoro snickered. “That was hilarious. ”

 

Torao met Luffy’s eyes, a smirk on her face and a glint in her eyes. “Why do I feel like you used to get into a lot of trouble, Luffy-ya?”

 

“I used to when I was younger.” Luffy nodded. “I grew up, though. Got a girlfriend now and everything.”

 

That earned a few laughs around the fire. Chopper stacked five more marshmallows on his skewer and began to roast them. The conversation died down and gazes turned upward to watch the stars. 

 

Nearly everyone fell asleep on the drive back to Saboady. Sanji drove, as he hadn’t been drinking like Torao had. Zoro still kept his spot in the passenger seat and Luffy found himself seated by the window. Torao was seated next to him with Chopper on both of their laps. Shachi and Penguin were passed out. 

 

“This was a nice date.” Luffy whispered. Torao turned her face toward him, a soft smile on her lips. 

 

“It was.” She agreed. “I missed you, Lu-ya.”

 

“I missed you, too.” Luffy let out a soft laugh, heart swelling with warmth. Torao rested her head against his and he allowed his eyes to drift closed as the silence pressed on around them.  

 

###

Chapter 17: 17

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Luffy found that he really enjoyed hanging out with Torao. His friends had warmed up to her and it wasn’t uncommon for all of them to hang out together. 

 

The weirdest development must have been that they started to hang out at Torao’s condo. It was more centrally located and was around three times as big as the apartment. Luffy didn’t remember how it happened but it felt completely natural. 

 

Just as it felt natural for him to stay the night nearly every night. 

 

Torao obtained her heart surgeon certifications and managed to hire another dentist for her office, making her work schedule a little lighter. She now only went into the dental office once a week, since apparently the new dentist didn’t want to rip all the teeth out. Torao grumbled and complained about all of the supplies they had to order for the new dentist but was happy to expand her practice to general dentistry as well. 

 

Luffy even managed to get his own job and did not return to college, because who was he kidding? He hated it. He had met with that older man who he had met in Water 7, who was named Jinbe, at the docks who wanted to train Luffy to sail his small tour boat. It paid a ridiculous amount and he got to pretend to be a pirate? What else could he ask for? 

 

Torao worked at the hospital three times a week for twelve or more hours, but she managed to avoid the overnight shifts. Luffy was grateful because he grew accustomed to Torao’s strange sloth-style sleeping on top of him. 

 

It wasn’t until several months later, around a year since Luffy had met Torao online, when Luffy had been consistently sleeping over, that Zoro mentioned that he wanted to speak to him about something. Luffy’s birthday was the next day and they were both sitting at a burger joint next to the Baratie. 

 

“Luffy, you seem to be happy.” He told him. “How’s it going with her?”

 

“She does not like bread.” Luffy said with a chuckle. “She’s gained weight, too.”

 

“No, idiot, I mean with the living situation.”

 

“Oh.” Luffy frowned and met his eyes. “What about it?”

 

“Are you going to move in with her?”

 

Luffy stared at Zoro as he blinked slowly. “Why do I need to do that?”

 

Zoro chewed his lip, eyes seemingly hiding something. 

 

“What do you think about marriage, Luffy?” He then asked. “And starting a family?”

 

“Huh?” Luffy’s stomach twisted slightly. “Why are you asking me about that stuff?”

 

Zoro didn’t answer him. 

 

It wasn’t until later that night, when Torao had arrived back at the condo after her day of work, that he really looked at her and thought about Zoro’s questions. What did he think about marriage? 

 

Torao noticed something was on his mind while they were eating. 

 

“Talk to me.” She murmured, taking a large bite out of her weird green pasta. Luffy frowned at her. 

 

“Should we get married?” He asked abruptly, causing her to choke. “Zoro asked me… oh, should I move in?”

 

Torao set down her fork and folded her hands, giving Luffy a hard look after she composed herself. “Listen very closely to what I’m going to say. You already live here.” She told him. “As for marriage, are you asking me?”

 

“What do you mean I live here?” Luffy asked, surprised. She rolled her eyes. 

 

“You sleep here every night and have been for six months. You invite all your friends over and have parties until the break of dawn. You feed my dog and clean the toilet. You live here.”

 

“Oh. Should I tell Zoro that?”

 

“Lu-ya. Are you asking me to marry you?”

 

Torao seemed to be expecting something. Luffy took a few bites of his chicken leg while he thought.

 

“So I live here.” He started. 

 

“Yes.”

 

“And I have been for a while.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

Luffy chewed again. 

 

“I guess we could get married.” Luffy said slowly. “Might as well.”

 

“What do you mean ‘might as well’?” Torao sat back in her chair with a roll of her eyes. “How romantic.”

 

“What, you want to get married? It’s the same thing as what we are doing now! No kissing other people!” 

 

Torao seemed to develop a headache. Luffy grinned and moved closer to her, tilting his head to get her attention. 

 

“Let’s get married.” He said, meeting her eyes. “And start our family, okay?”

 

“Luffy-ya, what the fuck?” Torao blurted, cheeks flaming. “You can’t just say that!”

 

“What, when we get married, we will be family, right?”

 

“ No, who said those words to you? Was it Zoro-ya? I’m gonna kill him. He’s putting these wild ideas in your head. Marriage. Children. Everything was fine.”

 

“What do you mean by ‘children’?” Luffy asked, confused. Torao groaned and put her face into her hands. 

 

“I’m going to kill your grandfather for not educating you… this is too much…”

 

“I know how babies are made.” Luffy grumbled. “Chopper taught me.”

 

“Yeah and it’s pure luck that I’m not already harboring your child with the amount of times a night you refuse to pull out still to this day.”

 

“Torao, that’s the best part.” Luffy whined. “Why would I pull it out?”

 

“I’ll just continue to damage my body with the high dosages of birth control, it’s fine.” Torao raised an eyebrow. “I’m being serious, Luffy-ya. Do you want to get married?”

 

“I don’t really care. You’re already mine. You already love me. Why do I need proof?”

 

Torao snorted. “Okay. Fine. Yeah. I love you.”

 

“You could have my name though.” Luffy grinned at her. “Monkey D. Torao!”

 

“No, you idiot , Torao is my last name!”

 

They were both quiet. Luffy’s face slowly split into a grin as he realized that it was the first time she had ever said the nickname. Torao realized what she said and scowled deeply. 

 

“My first name is Lauren.” She told him. “You know that, right?”

 

“Yeah, I know all your names.” Luffy snickered. “ Trafalgar.”

 

Torao was knocked speechless. She stared at Luffy for a very long time. He managed to finish his entire plate and also half of her pasta before she cleared her throat. 

 

“Hurry up.” She said in a low voice. “I need something from you right this second.”

 

Luffy didn’t need to be told twice. 

 

A few minutes later, when he was buried deep inside of her as he pinned her to her uncomfortable sofa, he remembered something important that he had forgotten about. He shifted his hand to grasp one of her breasts tightly as he drilled into her just how she liked, biting his lip at how good it felt. She was always so tight. He didn’t get it. She should be all stretched out by that point because of how often he got to fuck her. 

 

He suddenly leaned close to her face and gently kissed her cheek. “I love you.” He murmured against her skin. “You feel so good and so tight, Law.”

 

That was her breaking point. She pinched his back as she convulsed around him and he winced. Why did she do that? It always hurt. But it didn’t interfere with his own climax as he slammed his hips against her and pushed as deep as he could. He loved filling her up. And she loved when he did it, even though she complained. 

 

Luffy slumped against her with a soft whine, trying to catch his breath. They must have had sex on every surface of her condo by that point. The counter had been interesting but uncomfortable. Somehow more comfortable than the sofa…

 

Luffy didn’t pull out of her as he caught his breath. Torao never liked when he pulled out right away. Sometimes she would just sit on his dick until he got hard again. Torao was so weird. 

 

“So good.” She murmured, her sweaty hands sliding up and down his sticky back. “You’re always so good at that…”

 

Luffy grinned and slid one hand down to grip her plump ass. He pushed himself deeper inside of her as he sucked a large chunk of her bare breast into his mouth. She felt so good around him. 

 

Torao protested weakly as he moved his mouth to her nipple. He greedily swirled his tongue around her piercing as he rocked his hips into her, willing his dick to stay hard. He wanted to fuck her again. 

 

“Insatiable.” Torao was breathing against his neck, where she had pressed her messy face. “You’re fucking… hah…”

 

Luffy moved his other hand to her other ass cheek. He really loved squeezing her ass. He gave a harsh thrust that caused the sofa to skid slightly and Torao bit into the moist skin of his neck. 

 

“You want more?” Luffy asked as he gently rocked into her. “‘Cause I got some more to fill you up with.”

 

Torao was so pliant beneath him. She managed to spread her legs even farther apart and hook her ankles around the small of his back. She had begun to sloppily lick all over his neck, which felt so funny, but he didn’t want to focus on that. He wanted to focus on her snug pussy around his cock. 

 

She held onto him like a sloth as he fucked her sofa across the living room. She was too far gone to notice. Luffy managed to rip new noises out of her throat every single time he touched her. He loved to see her relax and give into her pleasure. She was usually so stoic and prickly. Luffy was so happy that he got to see her like that. 

 

Torao whimpered suddenly and her nails bit into his back as she threw her head back, lips parted. She panted and moaned as her walls convulsed around him and Luffy bit his lip to keep himself from coming again so soon. He wasn’t done.

 

He managed to hang on for a few more minutes before he growled and pushed deeply inside of her again, filling her up for the second time. She weakly protested, as usual, but held him even closer. 

 

“It’s going to stain the couch.” She said after a few minutes of silence only filled with their ragged breaths. “The sofa.”

 

“Is it a couch or a sofa?” Luffy pondered as he slid out of her slowly. She flexed her legs as if she didn’t want to let him leave but eventually relented and freed him. Luffy quickly looked down to watch his seed flow out of her and pool on the expensive black leather. He reached down and immediately pressed two fingers inside of her, fucking his semen into her with a lewd squishing sound. 

 

“ Luffy-ya. ” She gasped, managing to sound slightly annoyed. “F-fuck, what are you doing to me?”

 

“You’re so sloppy.” Luffy murmured as he plunged his fingers in deeply. He watched in fascination as his spent continued to flow out of her. “I came a lot, there’s so much coming out.”

 

“Stop playing with it.”

 

Luffy bit his lip and gently began to rub the pad of his thumb against her swollen clit and piercing. Torao trembled beneath his touch, chest heaving. Luffy managed to squeeze a small orgasm out of her, grinning again as her walls clamped around his fingers. 

 

She pushed him away with a glare, grumbling about how he needed to leave her alone. Luffy ignored her weak pushes and wrapped his arms around her. Her shaky arms returned his embrace. Luffy glanced around their surroundings, snickering when he noticed they were basically in the kitchen. 

 

Torao suddenly groaned, shifting her body away from his. “Are you hard again?”  

 

“Huh?” Luffy looked between them and noticed his fully erect cock pressed against her thigh. “Oh. Yeah.”

 

Torao shoved him off and Luffy frowned, worried she was upset with him. His worries flew out the window as she turned around to lean against the back of the sofa and perked her hips up deliciously. She peeked back at him, an eyebrow raised. Luffy licked his lips and gently stroked his hands over the curve of her ass. It looked so round like that. 

 

Her lips were swollen but his dick sunk into her easily. Luffy let out a small whine as he adjusted his knees on the leather. How was she still so tight? Luffy gripped her hips tightly and pulled nearly all the way out before slamming back inside, groaning in delight. Her hot walls were so slippery around him, a combination of his come and hers. He heard the same noises that his fingers were making as he fucked into her roughly. Torao let out a soft sigh, lowering her head as she breathed raggedly. Luffy pressed his chest against her back and slid one arm around her front to roughly grip one of her breasts. 

 

“Oh, fuck.” Torao breathed. “ Mmm , that feels good. So deep. Keep that angle.”

 

Luffy couldn’t move as harshly with that new angle but he wanted to please her and continued to thrust his hips as much as he could. Torao somehow got even wetter and Luffy bit into his lip as heat pooled entirely too quickly in his stomach. He could make it. He could get one more from her. 

 

Torao stiffened as he slid particularly deep and let out a surprised gasp. Luffy rocked against that spot a few times before she went completely rigid as her climax peaked. He reached down to slide his fingers on either side of her clit as she came, slowing his hips down as his own orgasm suddenly happened. Luffy began to pepper kisses all over her tattooed back, keeping his hands selfishly over her clit and breast.

 

Torao was still hunched over the back of the couch, breathing slowly. Luffy felt himself twitch inside of her, which caused her to groan. He slowly pulled out of her, biting his lip at how sensitive he was. He had never come so many times in a row before. He examined the head of his dick with his fingers, freezing as soon as he noticed the smear of deep red. His post-orgasmic bliss was immediately shattered and he was left feeling slightly sick.

 

Torao noticed him freeze immediately and turned around slowly. Luffy shot her a frantic look. 

 

He had hurt her. Something he said he would not do. 

 

His throat tightened and he gazed at her apologetically. What did he do? He had fucked her too hard, too rough, and made her bleed. He was no better than her previous boyfriend-

 

But Torao was just blinking at him. Her cheeks were flushed and splotchy and her lips were parted. She leaned heavily against the back of the sofa before reaching down to slide a finger inside of herself. Luffy watched with worry as she inspected herself. 

 

“I see.” She murmured after removing her finger, which was completely clean of any blood. “I can’t reach the spot that is bleeding. That must be from you fucking my cervix like an animal.”

 

“Torao.” Luffy said, voice breaking. His heart was hammering in his chest. He hesitated to reach for her. Torao raised an eyebrow at him. 

 

“What’s wrong with you?” She frowned deeply. “Come here.”

 

“I hurt you.” Luffy wiped his fingers on the sofa, earning a crazed look from Torao. He hesitantly placed his hands on her hips, causing her to roll her eyes. 

 

“No, you didn’t. The cervix is a very sensitive area. You shoved your entire dick into me, didn’t you?”

 

Luffy gulped. Torao smirked and caressed his cheek. 

 

“Don’t be upset.” She said softly. “I loved that and I hope you’ll continue to do it.”

 

“But the blood. ” Luffy gripped her hips more firmly. She shrugged slightly. 

 

“It happens sometimes. I’ll be sore for a few days and we will most likely need to take a break from penetration.” 

 

Luffy nodded, gulping. Torao seemed so unconcerned so he allowed himself to calm down. She patted the back of his hand before making a face. 

 

“Shower.” She said immediately. “Now. Uh, can you carry me?”

 

Luffy couldn’t help but smirk. She rolled her eyes and flexed her legs, wincing slightly. 

 

“Oh, I’m going to really feel that tomorrow.” She murmured with a small smirk. “Good thing I’m off work…”

 

Luffy scooped her up and carried her to the upstairs bathroom. He nearly slipped on the carpet and might have smacked her head into the wall, but she could only laugh at his antics. 

 

The upstairs bathroom was Luffy’s favorite. It was all gray themed and had a giant jacuzzi tub. Luffy had learned fast that Torao enjoyed baths and smelly salts, or whatever she called them. He wasn’t as good at it as she was, but he tried. 

 

He set her on the closed toilet seat and immediately turned on all of the knobs. He checked the temperature, pleased at how hot it was, before grabbing wildly at her fancy salts. 

 

“Don’t put the whole jar this time.” Torao snapped immediately. Luffy grinned and opened the jar quickly. He took a large whiff and scrunched up his nose. They never smelled good like that. 

 

He followed her instructions and sprinkled a nice amount into the steaming water. He returned the jar to its place next to several other jars with similar contents before crowding Torao’s space and giving her a demanding kiss. 

 

He remembered again what he had forgotten. 

 

“Torao.” Luffy said against her lips. “Jinbe wants me to sail with him to Drum Island.”

 

Torao pulled back slightly. “That’s a bit far.” She said with a frown that did not suit her. Luffy quickly turned to shut off the water before helping her stand up. Her knees were so wobbly and Luffy normally would have laughed at her, but the look on her face was not sitting right with him. 

 

They climbed into the tub and sat down into the water. Torao immediately moved closer to him, her lanky arms and legs tangling with his. 

 

“That’s very far.” She continued softly, leaning her head against his chest. “For a sailboat.”

 

“He wants to take the Sunny.” He explained. “It’s a… brigantine.”

 

Torao hummed. “Oh, the ship? This Jinbe man… he really likes you, doesn’t he?”

 

Luffy nodded and pressed a kiss to her hair. It had grown so long during his time of knowing her. It was amazing to him that after how much she had sweated on the sofa, her hair still smelled like her shampo. “Yeah, he’s really great. He told me that he owns part of the docks on Drum Island and wants to make it a tourist route, so he has to test it out.”

 

Torao was quiet before she let out a breathless laugh. “That’s… at least three weeks to get there. If there’s a tailwind and clear waters. You know that Drum Island is off the other coast. You’d have to cross through the Redline Canal.”

 

Luffy swallowed because he knew that. He knew because he has watched Jinbe draw a rough line on his map. “Yeah… and he wants to leave next Wednesday…”

 

Torao pulled back to meet his eyes. Luffy stared at her for a moment before moving forward to gently kiss her lips. 

 

“You won’t be available to talk all the time, right?” Torao muttered against his mouth. Luffy sucked her plump lower lip into his mouth, tonguing the inside of it. 

 

“I’m gonna bring my laptop.” Luffy said, releasing her. “So we can play!”

 

Torao smiled slightly, pressing her nose against his. “Oh? That’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll be too busy.”

 

Luffy grinned. “No way! It’ll be just like when we first met. I’ll miss this, though.”

 

And Luffy pulled her closer until she straddled him. He captured her lips in a searing kiss, his cock already hard. He didn’t think she would let him fuck her again but Torao didn’t stop him as he guided himself inside of her. He kept his thrusts shallow and slow, fearing that he would hurt her and also make a mess of the bathroom. It felt so different underwater. She was still so slick and warm, though he could feel how he slightly stretched her out. He kept a steady hold on her sides, lips demanding against hers.

 

Torao suddenly pushed herself all of the way down and let out a loud groan. Luffy allowed her to take control and simply supported her. The water splashed around them tauntingly, as if any movement they did could cause an unfortunate flood. Luffy felt a nagging worry about the state of her whatever she called it and tried to grip her hips in a way that prevented her from bottoming out but all that got him was an impatient huff and a pinch to his skin. 

 

Luffy had a very strange orgasm not twenty seconds later, the sound of the splashing water loud in his ears. He could feel himself coming but it felt so weak. Was it because he had already come so many times?

 

Torao huffed again and latched her lips onto his neck, sucking hard before her teeth were digging into him. Luffy winced at the feeling before sliding his hands up to her shoulders. 

 

“Stop chewing on me.” He protested. Torao released his skin and buried her face in his neck. He didn’t understand her. She was so weird sometimes-

 

“I’m gonna miss you.”

 

Luffy slowed the movement of his fingers over her skin. His softening cock was still buried inside of her. She hadn’t come. 

 

“Don’t forget about me.”

 

Luffy tried to pull back to look at her face but she was clinging to him. He heard a wet sniffle and didn’t know how he should feel about it. Was she crying? Why would she do that? Wasn’t she happy for him? Wasn’t she happy that he was going to go on an adventure? 

 

Luffy felt a tightness around his heart. He knew he spent most of his days with her. But it was comfortable. He wanted to be around her. He liked to spend time with her. He wasn’t going to be gone that long. He would see her in like two months. It wasn’t that long. 

 

But why was he holding her so tight? Why did it feel like they were saying goodbye forever?

 

He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “Don’t be stupid.” He told her in a low voice. “How could I forget about my Torao?”

 

Her arms tightened around his back. They stayed in the water until their fingers and toes were wrinkly.

 

Later that night, Luffy found himself walking Bepo outside. Torao had left for a work emergency, which was annoying, because she had told him she was off, but he didn’t really care. It just meant he could eat all of the cookies and cream ice cream in the freezer without her judgment. 

 

Bepo sniffed the same red roses that he smelled every time Luffy took him on a walk and Luffy admired the dog’s fluffy white coat. He was slightly discolored, which Luffy got excited about because that meant that him and Bepo got to use the kiddie pool in the backyard. He had a slight damper to his excitement but he didn’t want to let it bother him. Him and Torao could talk more when she got home. 

 

Luffy led the dog back into the condo and through the sliding glass door at the back of it, lips splitting into a grin. He grabbed the small basket of Bepo’s soaps and brushes and dropped it on the weird fake grass next to the small pink kiddie pool. Torao had purchased it after she had come home one night to find her bathroom flooded and destroyed when Luffy had tried to wash the large dog in the jacuzzi tub.

 

Luffy hummed to himself as he turned on the hose and tossed the end into the pool. Bepo seemed to let out a small sigh before sitting next to his basket of items, resigned to his fate. Luffy grinned at him. 

 

“You gotta be nice and clean so that I can continue to persuade your grumpy mom to let you in the bed.” Luffy told him. “She’s considering it. I can tell.”

 

Bepo barked at him, tail wagging excitedly. Luffy chuckled to himself before checking the water. 

 

He then pulled off his shirt, tossing it into one of Torao’s fancy outside chairs along with his eerily silent phone. He kicked off his Crocs and ran across the yard to flip up the light switch. Several firefly lights illuminated above him and he stared up at the dark sky in admiration. He loved the lights. They looked like little lanterns. The sky was clear and dark, a pleasant combination of purples and navy blues. 

 

Luffy wondered if he’d be able to see the stars from the ocean. 

 

If he went. 

 

His smile faltered slightly. What was that thought? If? He wanted to go. So he would. It was as easy as that. 

 

Was it really that easy? His mind flashed with images of Torao’s slightly dejected face and he hesitated again. Water slowly filled the pool, the sound loud in his ears. His heart squeezed again, painful.

 

He didn’t want to think about that. 

 

He shrugged and jumped into the pool. Bepo splashed after him, tongue lolling out of his mouth. 

 

Luffy washed him quickly, whistling to himself. He ran his fingers through the dog’s flurry hair, making sure to lather the soap up really nice before rinsing him off with the hose. He then pushed Bepo out of the pool and dragged it across the yard to Torao’s weird designated water-emptying spot. 

 

Bepo was shaking all of the water out of his fur when Luffy brought one of Torao’s plush black towels over to him. He dried his chest first before dropping to his knees to towel off the dog. Bepo immediately shook again, coating Luffy in water, which caused him to laugh out loud. 

 

Luffy was startled by his phone as it began to ring loudly. He left the towel draped over the dog and stood up, wincing as one of the weird rubber rocks in the fake grass jabbed into the center of his foot. He lifted his phone and answered it quickly without checking who it was. 

 

“Hi!” He said cheerfully.

 

“ Luffy.” Nami said angrily. “ Where are you? Why aren’t you home?”

 

“Hah?” Luffy asked in surprise. “I’m at Torao’s watching her dog!”

 

“ What, do you live there or something?! We are going to Franky’s. Vivi got a promotion. Can you come?”

 

“Oh, uh… can I bring Bepo? I don’t want him to get lonely-”

 

“ Forget the dog!”

 

“Nami, I can’t do that. He gets really sad.” 

 

Even then, Bepo’s dog face had twisted into an unpleasant sad-face, as if the knowledge that Luffy had to leave was obvious to him. 

 

“ Fine! Bring the dog! I can’t believe you. You better make sure it doesn’t piss anywhere!”

 

“Bepo is a good boy.” Luffy assured. “What kinda promotion did Vivi get? Who is all gonna be there? I don’t have any clothes… I guess I’ll wear those stupid idiots’ clothes.”

 

“ Yeah… yeah cool. I don’t even know what you’re saying. You better be at Franky’s within an hour or I’m fining you for the inconvenience.”

 

“You’re so mean.” Luffy whined as she hung up. His heart twisted happily. At least he wouldn’t need to spend the night alone while Torao handled her emergency!

 

Luffy went through Torao’s closet and settled on a pair of gray shorts and a white t-shirt. He then spent a few minutes brushing Bepo’s fur and giving him mohawks.

 

The sky was darkening when he locked up Torao’s condo. Bepo wagged his tail slowly as he watched Luffy. Luffy simply grinned at him. 

 

The walk to the downtown area only took around ten minutes. Luffy tried his best to keep his mood positive, but the fact that he was having those bad thoughts and considerations about skipping out on Jinbe’s offer hung over him heavily. He had always loved the ocean. 

 

But he also loved Torao. And she… she wasn’t doing well. Luffy wasn’t dumb. He could see the dark shadows in her golden eyes as she looked at him. He could see the struggles she had when it came to keeping weight on. He could hear her walking around well into the night, could smell the coffee brewing constantly. But what could he do? She didn’t ask him for help. She didn’t need his help. 

 

But somehow, she had latched onto him in a way that he felt was not too good. He worried a lot about her. 

 

Luffy arrived at the bar and was immediately stopped at the front door by the doorman. 

 

“Luffy.” He said in exasperation. Luffy frowned up at him, recognizing him as some annoying guy that he saw sometimes. “There’s no dogs allowed in here.”

 

“What, you want me to leave him outside?” Luffy scoffed, gently patting Bepo’s head. “He is gonna get lonely!”

 

The man’s eyes darted down to the dog. Bepo stared up at him in sorrow, wide-eyed. A low whine escaped his snout and Luffy vowed to make sure that Bepo got a lot of treats for being such a good boy.

 

“Whatever.” The guy muttered. “Just don’t say that I let that dog in here.”

 

“Thanks, door guy!” Luffy said excitedly before walking into the building. 

 

He didn’t recognize anyone as he walked into the dark bar. Bepo clung to his leg, which made it difficult to walk, but he managed. He scanned the crowd with a small smile, trying to find Nami. She had invited him there. Where was she?

 

He made his way across the bar toward the back, weaving between dancing bodies. He heard several people coo and compliment Bepo but he ignored them because he didn’t want Bepo to get a big head. He was already spoiled enough. 

 

He finally spotted Nami in one of the large circular booths in the corner and began to walk faster. She waved him over with a big smile on her face. 

 

“It took you exactly 56 minutes to get here.” She said. “You’re lucky. ”

 

“Hi, Nami.” Luffy immediately sat in the booth and scooted around until he was right next to his friend. He then patted the bench excitedly until Bepo jumped up. The dog moved slowly, as if he was apprehensive to get too comfortable. 

 

“That is the saddest dog I’ve ever seen.” Nami said flatly. “Is that Torao’s dog?”

 

“This is Bepo.” Luffy said with a grin. “We went on a walk and then took a bath!”

 

“Oh my god, you’re married.” Nami cackled loudly. “You walk and bathe her dog!”

 

“I’m not married.” Luffy frowned. “We didn’t get married. She didn’t really like the idea, I think.”

 

“Wait. Did you propose to her?!” Nami demanded, gripping the front of Luffy’s shirt. 

 

“Wait, who proposed?” Vivi sat on Nami’s other side, two large steins of beer in her hands. “Surely not Luffy!”

 

“Luffy proposed to his girlfriend!” Nami announced excitedly. Luffy frowned because he was lost. 

 

“How much did you spend on her ring?” Vivi asked excitedly. “I bet it was expensive. She’s a doctor, right?”

 

“She’s a dentist.” Luffy corrected. 

 

“Isn’t she a surgeon, too? Chopper was telling me that he went to visit his mom and he overheard her talking to a different doctor about her.”

 

“What are we talking about?” Robin joined them, hand immediately stroking down Bepo’s head in the exact way that he liked it as she sat down. Luffy grinned at her. He loved being around his friends.

 

“We are talking about Torao.” Luffy said. “And how she doesn’t want to get married.”

 

Robin gave him a knowing look. “Oh, really? You asked Torao to marry you?”

 

“I can’t believe she said no.” Nami grumbled. “We had a chance to have a huge party. We could be celebrating right now.”

 

“There must have been a reason.” Vivi supplied unhelpfully. “It doesn’t make sense. The way Sanji talks about her, I assumed she would be the one to propose to Luffy.”

 

“Sanji doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Nami lifted one of the beers and took a deep drink. She set it onto the table with a soft noise and pursed lips.

 

“She kept asking if I was asking her.” Luffy said, flashing a grin at Franky as he joined them with several glasses of multicolored liquids between his large hands. “Which was weird. But she’s kinda weird sometimes.”

 

“Wait. What exactly did you say to her?” Nami raised her brow. Luffy scrunched up his face as he tried to remember the conversation. Pasta. Green pasta. 

 

“It’ll work out.” He eventually muttered. Franky wordlessly pushed one of the glasses in front of him.

 

“That’s super rough.” He said sympathetically. “I get it, man. Robin declined my proposal as well.”

 

“Maybe because you proposed that she become your ‘super-hot-wife’ and she needs something a little more romantic. ” Nami said flatly as Vivi giggled. 

 

“Men.” Robin said with a small smile. Luffy met Franky’s eyes and they both shrugged. 

 

Zoro and Sanji joined them a few minutes later and Luffy grinned. He was so glad that they were boyfriends and couldn’t wait until they told everyone else. A pointed look from Zoro let him know that he couldn’t say anything and he deflated slightly. He hated keeping secrets. 

 

The hot gossip of the hour was apparently Torao’s blatant and heartless rejection of Luffy’s marriage proposal. Zoro gaped at Luffy in surprise as Nami told the story again (with many new details that definitely didn’t happen) and Luffy focused on pouring a water bottle into the now empty bowl in front of him for Bepo as he chewed on some peanuts.

 

Luffy’s phone didn’t buzz the entire night and he tried to not let it bother him. Usually Torao send him cute pictures or nice messages throughout her shifts and the fact that she was so silent made him remember their conversation, which put a damper on his mood. 

 

What was he supposed to do? Torao clearly didn’t want him to go on his sailing trip with Jinbe. He wanted to go. He had a chance to have an adventure and Torao was… 

 

She was clingy. Luffy felt immediately guilty as the thought assaulted him. But she was clingy. She didn’t want Luffy to go because she wanted him stuck with her at the condo. She probably wanted them to wear handcuffs and go everywhere together. Maybe she wanted to wear a giant sweater and take over half of Luffy’s body movements, too. 

 

(Luffy was pounding each and every fruity drink that Franky gave him, which was making his thoughts weird.)

 

Maybe Torao didn’t want him to go because she didn’t believe in boats. Maybe she thought Jinbe was a sea monster and he was trying to lure Luffy to his demise. Maybe she wanted to force Luffy to eat a bunch of vegetables until he died and she couldn’t watch him if he was sailing on a boat . 

 

“I can’t believe it.” Luffy muttered to himself. “I hate vegetables!”

 

“He’s fucking wasted.” Nami sighed. “Franky, what the fuck?!”

 

“Super sorry.” Franky snickered. 

 

Luffy blinked repeatedly and tried to steady himself in his seat, but his mind kept swirling. Bepo was laying down with his head in Luffy’s lap. Luffy ran his fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck as he tried to steady his wild thoughts. Torao wasn’t evil. She wouldn’t force him to eat fifty pounds of vegetables. She wouldn’t get in the way of his dream. 

 

“Look at that hickey.” Nami said, jabbing a manicured nail into Luffy’s neck. “That’s intense.”

 

“Torao did it.” Luffy told her, words slurred slightly. “In the bath. We took a bath.”

 

“Oh? Was that before or after she shut you down?”

 

Luffy sighed deeply, which got the attention of all of his friends. Zoro frowned at him. 

 

“You okay, Luf?” He asked. “Something happen?”

 

“Jinbe wants to go on a pirate adventure.” He stated. “Torao got sad when I told her.”

 

“Oh, he wants to go sailing? What’s the big deal?” Nami took another drink. 

 

“Drum Island is a little far.” Luffy tried to explain, mind overcome with the images of Torao’s pained face. “It’ll take a while and Torao is… I dunno.”

 

“Wait.” Zoro said, his own glass of beer empty. “She told you not to go, didn’t she? That’s fucking selfish. I can’t believe-”

 

“No, she didn’t say that.” Luffy interrupted, a headache erupting behind his eyes. He rubbed at them with a sigh. “We didn’t really talk about it a lot. She had to go to work.”

 

“Oh, Luffy.” Viví said sadly. “I’m sorry that she did that to you.”

 

“It’s just like her.” Sanji said with a wave of his hand. “That sucks. Luffy really liked her.”

 

“Which was so weird.” Nami added. “Luffy doesn’t do romance!”

 

Luffy wasn’t following the conversation. He wasn’t sure if it was because he drank too much or what, but it almost sounded like they had the wrong idea.

 

“Maybe she denied his marriage proposal because of it.” Nami said a few moments later. “It’s petty and I don’t know Torao very well, but from what Sanji has told me about their interactions…”

 

“Torao is very sweet.” Robin said, her hand stroking up Bepo’s spine. “It must be a misunderstanding and unfortunately, Luffy isn’t in the right mind to tell us. It’s wrong to jump to conclusions. Torao loves Luffy very much and she wouldn’t intentionally hurt him.”

 

Luffy’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and peered at the screen as his friends continued to bicker about his love life. 

 

“Hello?” He slurred into the receiver. 

 

“ Luffy-ya. Sorry about having to leave so abruptly. I’m finished here. Are you hungry?”

 

“Torao.” Luffy pushed Bepo’s head back down as he raised it with interest. His friends went quiet, not trying to be subtle about eavesdropping. 

 

“Ask her why she denied you!” Nami said heatedly. Luffy frowned at her. He didn’t want to ask that-

 

“I’m not hungry.” He said instead. 

 

“What? Are you okay? It’s loud. Where are you? Not hungry?”

 

Nami pulled the phone from Luffy’s fingers and put it on speaker. “Hi, Torao.” She said with fake sweetness. “Luffy is hanging out with us right now.”

 

There was silence and Luffy didn’t think that Torao was going to like what Nami did very much. 

 

“… I see.” Torao said quietly after a while. “ Can I speak to Luffy? I don’t-”

 

“You’ve done enough!” Viví said loudly, leaning over Nami’s arm. “Luffy is hurting because you are heartless and said no!”

 

“Vivi-” Luffy started, getting annoyed.

 

“Yeah!” Nami agreed. “The poor guy, he’s never had a romantic experience before, he proposed to you with his whole heart exposed and you… you’re so heartless!”

 

“And you won’t even let him go sailing? That’s his dream!”

 

Torao was so quiet that Luffy’s head cleared. He had a bad feeling. 

 

“He even brought your dog.” Vivi said, tears streaming down her face. She looked at Nami as her lip wobbled. “He takes care of her dog when she’s at work and it’s so sweet, Nami. Luffy is such a good guy, he doesn’t deserve this.”

 

“It ain’t that big of a deal.” Zoro said, eyebrows creased. He had a fifth empty glass in front of him. “You chicks are blowing this out of proportion. Vivi, you’ve never even met Law. This is fuckin’ weird.”

 

“Can I have my phone back?” Luffy asked, voice laced with irritation. He grabbed for the device but Nami held it out of reach.

 

“Luffy isn’t hungry.” Nami snapped angrily. “That means that he’s thinking, and Luffy doesn’t think!”

 

“I’m not fucking dealing with this.” Torao said coldly. “Fuck this.”

 

The line disconnected. Luffy grabbed his phone and immediately called her back, but the line went to voicemail. 

 

“She’s pissed.” Zoro said with a sigh. “Way to go.”

 

“Why would you answer the phone?” Sanji asked, making a face. “I thought you were gonna dump her.”

 

“What?” Luffy asked in genuine surprise. Zoro looked at Sanji with eyebrows raised. 

 

“You never liked her.” He realized. Sanji rolled his eyes. 

 

“She’s a fucking bitch. I respect it, of course, but Luffy doesn’t need that. Look how she’s changed him. He thinks now. He looks miserable! I’m just saying that it’s not a bad idea to break things off. Especially with a botched marriage proposal and this whole Jinbe business.”

 

Luffy kept calling. Torao‘s phone didn’t even ring. 

 

He didn’t know how long he spent frowning at his phone, but they were eventually joined by the last person Luffy wanted to see. 

 

“I haven’t seen you in such a long time!” Boa Hancock gushed as she leaned across the table, her cleavage on full display. “You’re as handsome as ever. Who’s your friend?”

 

Luffy raised his eyes with disinterest. “Bepo.”

 

“Such a cute puppy! Can I pet him?”

 

“I don’t care.” Luffy pressed the call icon again. No luck.

 

Boa forced her way into the booth, crawling over the laps of Zoro and Robin. Robin simply rolled her eyes, a knowing smile on her lips that Luffy didn’t understand.

 

“So beautiful.” Sanji praised. “Does miss Boa need a drink?”

 

“Yes.” Boa scoffed at him as she settled into the space next to Bepo. She pushed her long locks behind her ears, exposing her golden earrings. “Now. And one for my love, as well.”

 

Nami snickered and Vivi looked scandalized. Luffy wanted to talk to Torao but his friends had messed things up again.

 

“Luffy…” Zoro said quietly. 

 

Boa’s ridiculously manicured fingers began to pet up Bepo’s fur. The dog moved closer to Luffy, a low growl sounding in his throat.

 

“He doesn’t like you.” Luffy said bluntly without looking up. “Don’t touch him.”

 

“Nonsense.” Boa snapped. “The dog will learn her place.”

 

“Bepo is a boy dog.”

 

“That doesn’t matter.”

 

Bepo suddenly growled loudly in warning, causing Boa to pull her hand back with a dramatic gasp. Luffy tossed his arm around Bepo and tugged him closer. The dog whined softly, tongue flicking against Luffy’s cheek.

 

“It’s okay, Bepo.” He said gently. “I’m trying to call your mom. She isn’t answering, though.”

 

Bepo whined again and looked up at Luffy. Luffy patted his side with a clenching around his heart.

 

“His mom?” Boa asked curiously as Sanji placed two drinks in front of her. She discarded the pink umbrellas sticking off the top immediately before pushing the matching drink to Luffy. 

 

“That’s Luffy’s girlfriend’s dog.” Zoro said. Boa’s face twisted with anger. 

 

“He’s gonna dump her.” Vivi said. “Don’t worry, Boa.”

 

Boa made an excited noise that nearly burst Luffy’s eardrums. She kicked her legs in excitement before gazing at Luffy with wide eyes. 

 

“Maybe, since you’ll be free of that man-stealing whore…” She batted her eyes. “You’ll go with me to the new barbecue place that opened near the coast?”

 

Another call. Another failure. Luffy wasn’t even listening to the conversation around him. He didn’t care about anything right then except speaking to Torao. 

 

“Luffy would love to go.” Nami said cheerfully as Vivi cried dramatically into her ear. “I’ll just need to coach him on how to properly dump his baggage first.”

 

“Nami.” Robin said sternly. “Luffy is an adult. He can handle his own misunderstandings.”

 

The group began to bicker again and Boa began to stroke Luffy’s arm where he was holding Bepo against his side. Luffy’s eyebrow twitched in irritation as he repeatedly called Torao. He was so focused on his task that he didn’t notice when the table went quiet. 

 

“Awkward.” Nami muttered suddenly. Luffy looked up in confusion, eyes landing on a familiar woman standing at the head of the booth. 

 

Torao was dressed in a yellow button up with her favorite blue jacket hung over her shoulders. Her top was unbuttoned slightly, revealing those swirls of ink that Luffy liked to lick so much. Her jeans were tight and without any holes, much to Luffy’s pleasure. Her hair was wavy and slightly wet, as though she had recently washed it, and her favorite hat was on her head, the little black spots familiar. 

 

Luffy beamed at her. She was glaring at him. 

 

“Torao.” He said happily.

 

“You brought my fucking dog to a bar?” She snapped at him. “What the fuck are you doing?”

 

“He was gonna be lonely.” Luffy defended. Bepo seemed to nod his head in agreement. Torao rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, pressing it to her ear a moment later. Luffy’s friends were silent as they watched Torao cautiously. Boa scooted closer, her cleavage pressing against Luffy’s arm.

 

“I need you to come pick up my dog.” She said into the phone. “Now. Franky’s.”

 

“Torao, you aren’t answering the phone when I call.” Luffy pouted, earning surprised looks from all of his friends. “How come it works just fine?”

 

“I muted you.” Torao told him, glaring at each person at the table. Vivi and Nami both flinched. “I don’t know what the fuck Luffy-ya told you people, but it’s none of your fucking business.”

 

Robin chuckled, taking a drink from her wine glass. Boa huffed indignantly and flipped her hair. 

 

“Who is this chick, Luffy?” She asked, making a face. “Is she bothering you, my love?”

 

Torao raised an eyebrow but didn’t otherwise react to Boa’s nickname.

 

“I’m getting a drink and waiting for Shachi outside.” She said to Luffy. She then snapped her fingers twice and Bepo darted from Luffy’s side immediately, jumping excitedly up Torao’s leg. She ignored him and turned on her heel, walking back into the crowd. Bepo followed after her with his tail wagging excitedly, though he did cast Luffy a look on his way out.

 

“Oh my god.” Nami said, surprised. “Torao is badass. ”

 

“She’s so intimidating.” Vivi cried, grabbing onto Nami’s arm. “And no one told me she was so pretty!”

 

Luffy huffed and made a move to stand up. Boa gripped his arm. 

 

“Don’t leave.” She pleaded. “She clearly doesn’t want to talk to you.” Her face was annoyingly close to Luffy’s. “I’ll take such good care of you. I’ll give you head every single day!”

 

“Oh my god, desperate.” Nami snickered. Luffy pulled his arm from Boa’s grip, but she just latched back on. He huffed in annoyance and pulled one of the stupid drinks that Sanji had brought closer to him. He slurped loudly out of the straw, eyes trained on the spot where Torao had disappeared. 

 

She returned around fifteen minutes later, a glass of clear liquid in her tattooed hand. She simply raised an eyebrow at Luffy as he breathed out through his nostrils. Boa was pressing lipgloss-covered kisses all over his face.

 

“Is that your little girlfriend?” Torao asked with a smirk. “That’s a shame, Luffy-ya. I thought we were going to get married.”

 

There was a collective gasp. Robin simply smiled knowingly. 

 

Boa pulled back with a dramatic gasp. She looked between Luffy and Torao repeatedly. 

 

“Torao is my girlfriend.” Luffy told Boa flatly, tugging his arm free again. He wiped his sticky cheek with a frown.

 

“Maybe they’ll fight for you.” Nami said loudly, earning a sharp glare from Torao. “They’ll prove who loves you more!”

 

Luffy suddenly jumped up on his seat, standing tall. He stepped onto the table, tested its sturdiness. He then hurried across it before jumping down in front of Torao. He grinned up at her, placing a hand on her waist. 

 

“I’m glad to see you.” He told her, causing her eyes to widen and her cheeks to redden. “I missed you, Torao. You wanna hang out with us?”

 

“I don’t want to impose.” Torao muttered, glancing at the table. Luffy shrugged and raised himself up on his toes to kiss her cheek. Torao nearly melted. 

 

“Never.” Luffy murmured. “You’re my Torao. You’re always welcome around my friends.”

 

“What about that girl? She was kissing all over you.”

 

Luffy frowned at her and wiped his cheek again. “Hammock? She always does that. It’s so annoying!”

 

Torao gave him a teasing smile. “I can’t blame her. It’s hard not to want you.”

 

Luffy’s friends looked mildly uncomfortable as Luffy led Torao to the booth to sit. Vivi looked like she wanted to say something. Luffy sat next to Torao with a grin, tossing his arm up on the booth behind her. 

 

“Now that both of them are here.” Zoro snickered. “We can get the full story.”

 

“What story?” Torao asked, taking a drink from her glass. Luffy watched it with interest and she simply offered it to him. One sip had him widening his eyes as his throat burned. Torao rolled her eyes and took it back. Zoro reached across the table and Torao passed her glass to him. He grinned wickedly after a gulp.

 

“Luffy told us he proposed to you.” Nami said, crossing her arms. “And that you said no.”

 

“Oh? Was that a proposal?” Torao smirked and looked at Luffy. “Because if my memory serves correctly, you told me that we should get married because Zoro told you to.”

 

Luffy shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish smile. Zoro suddenly barked a laugh, slamming his seventh empty glass on the table. 

 

“Don’t tell me he went home and told you that you guys should get married.” He said, grinning wide. Luffy laughed. 

 

“That’s exactly what I said!” He agreed. The table groaned collectively. Boa continued to wallow in her misery.

 

“Well, that’s not all. You told me we should get married and then start our family.”

 

“Oh my god.” Nami groaned into her hands.

 

“Luffy.” Vivi said, disapproval lacing her tone. “ That was how you proposed to her?”

 

“No ring as well.” Torao continued. Another groan, this time from the females.

 

“You have enough jewelry.” Luffy protested. “You have so many piercings!”

 

“You can’t get married without rings.” Robin said with a light chuckle. “Oh, Luffy.”

 

“Zoro didn’t tell me I needed one.” Luffy grumbled. Sanji excused himself to get more drinks.

 

“Zoro is also a brute.” Nami explained. “He doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body. You’ve seen how many guys he’s taken into that apartment.”

 

Luffy pressed his lips together tightly. He didn’t want to say anything. Torao removed her hat and ran her fingers through her hair, eyes locked on Boa. 

 

“I don’t think we’ve met.” She said with a teasing lilt. “I’m Lauren.”

 

“I don’t care what your name is.” Boa stood up, cleavage nearly spilling out of her top. “You’re just a man-stealing bitch!”

 

Torao grinned. “Oh?”

 

“Yeah! And you don’t even compare to me! I’m the most beautiful woman here. You are nothing.”

 

Boa then shoved Robin aside as she left the booth, scoffing to herself in anger and flipping her hair as she disappeared into the crowd. 

 

Torao slumped slightly and Luffy moved closer to her, his arm falling around her back. 

 

“Torao, you’re so the most beautiful woman here.” He assured her, earning a raised eyebrow. He simply tapped her nose. She rolled her eyes. 

 

“I don’t need to be coddled.” She said in a low voice. “Don’t worry about me.”

 

“I always worry.” Luffy admitted, sliding his arm down to hug her around her waist. The feel of her bones was obvious. “Torao, you haven’t been eating again.”

 

Torao flinched and Luffy held her tighter. She stared at him in disbelief before letting out a breath. 

 

“Alright.” She murmured. “You’re right. Let’s eat something.”

 

Luffy’s jaw dropped. Was she serious?! Torao retrieved her credit card from her jacket pocket and offered it to Luffy. He took it immediately.

 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Zoro said with an amused look. “He’s going to buy an unreal amount of food.”

 

“Menu!” Luffy shouted to no one in particular. Torao was going to eat. He needed to get her food. 

 

A menu was tossed in front of Luffy. He immediately opened it to browse the options, excited to see the different kinds of meats and even more excited to see white rice. 

 

“I’ll be right back.” Luffy announced, jumping up. He hurried to the counter without a backward glance. 

 

Franky gave him a wild grin and Luffy admired how he had his hair styled like a rocket. 

 

“Where’s your buzz?” Franky immediately began preparing drinks. “You metabolize super fast. I served your lady. She’s super cold.”

 

“Another drink for her.” Luffy said happily. “Whatever she was drinking was gross.”

 

“It was sake with ice.” Franky said, bringing out a white bottle. “Super strange.”

 

“We wanna order some food.” Luffy announced, holding up the metal card. “Everything on the menu please. Extra meat. And then I have a special order.”

 

“Go ahead.” Franky said as he pulled out a pen and sticky note pad. 

 

“I need some rice.” Luffy said, glancing at the menu again. “Those broccoli things. Uh…”

 

“The potatoes are super good. They have cheese and bacon on them.”

 

“No, she won’t like that. Maybe some of the meatballs.”

 

“Meatballs. Got it.”

 

“And chocolate cake with extra chocolate chips.”

 

“Weird, but got it.”

 

“And expresso.”

 

“One espresso. Got it.”

 

Luffy tapped the card without blinking and signed the receipt. He returned to the table with his two drinks and grinned widely as he saw Torao talking with his friends. 

 

“What’s the damage?” Zoro asked with a wide smile. Luffy shrugged and passed Torao her card and the receipt. She stared at the small paper with a wordless expression on her face.

 

“You think she’s pissed?” Nami whispered loudly to Vivi. 

 

“She’s always pissed.” Vivi responded equally as loudly. Torao shot them both a scowl before shoving both the card and receipt into her jacket pocket. 

 

“How was the emergency?” Luffy asked Torao as he sat next to her. She shrugged and pulled her jacket closer around her. 

 

“Fine. Annoying.”

 

Luffy sipped his drink and stared at her. She gave him an eye roll. He rolled his eyes back at her. That made her crack a smile. 

 

“Give me a kiss.” She said to him. Luffy scooted closer until his side was pressed against hers. She maintained eye contact with him until he kissed her. 

 

“That’s so fucking weird.” Luffy heard Nami mutter. Luffy pulled back slightly and Torao let out a sigh against his lips.

 

The food arrived around ten minutes later. Torao watched with an unreadable expression as Franky left plate after plate on their table. Zoro laughed loudly, his fifteenth empty stein sitting in front of him. 

 

Torao remained quiet as Franky set the plate of rice, vegetables, and meatballs in front of Torao. Then came the espresso and chocolate cake with an unreal amount of chocolate chips on top.

 

“Luffy-ya.” Torao said sternly. “This is a lot of fucking food.”

 

“It’s not all for me.” He quickly said, using his friends as an excuse. “Anyone can have any! But not this stuff. This is yours.”

 

“Is that coffee?” 

 

“Expresso.” Luffy grinned and leaned down to smell it. Torao blinked slowly before her hand found Luffy’s under the table. 

 

“Thank you.” She murmured to him. “This means a lot to me. You really pay attention, don’t you?”

 

“Torao doesn’t get any more kisses until she eats.” Luffy said sternly. He squeezed her cold fingers. “Come on.”

 

“You know we had pasta earlier.” She muttered as she speared a large chunk of broccoli on a plastic fork. “I ate earlier.”

 

“You pushed it all around your plate until I got distracted.” Luffy corrected, causing her to stiffen. He simply offered a smile. “I notice things, Torao.”

 

“You notice too fucking much. It’s annoying.” Torao ate the broccoli. Her words lacked sharpness so Luffy knew she was just being sassy. 

 

Sanji lit a cigarette, eyes trained on them. Luffy didn’t eat as he made sure that Torao kept eating. It was a busy job. 

 

“You know,” Sanji started, words muffled by the cigarette in his mouth. Smoke billowed out the sides of his lips and nose. “I wouldn’t mind cooking for you guys. I can prepare meals each week.”

 

“Torao cooks.” Luffy said with a grin. “She cooks real good!”

 

“Sanji is a chef.” Torao muttered before taking another big bite of rice. Luffy frowned at her. 

 

“I like your food, Torao. You cook too many vegetables but that’s okay.”

 

“Oh? I do?” Torao smirked at him as she speared two meatballs on her fork. “Because you don’t really know what you’re eating, do you?”

 

Luffy frowned at that and Sanji let out a chuckle.

 

“What? What happened?” Luffy demanded. “Did you poison my food?”

 

“What?” Torao rolled her eyes and opened her mouth wide to accommodate both meatballs. Luffy watched her hungrily, his stomach warming for some reason. He liked how her cheeks looked when she had her mouth full and couldn’t tear his eyes away. 

 

“We’ve been having cooking lessons.” Sanji said with a wide grin. “And we’ve come up with something quite amazing.”

 

“Especially since you’ve been working out a lot more.” Zoro said, his nineteenth full beer in front of him. “You need to eat a balanced diet, Luf.”

 

“I eat with both sides of my mouth.” Luffy protested, watching as Torao brought two more meatballs to her mouth. A bit of tomato sauce was left at the corner of her mouth and Luffy licked his lips in excitement. He wanted to get it. 

 

“Stop watching me.” Torao muttered. “I’m not sharing.”

 

“You left a little sauce.” Luffy said, eyes locked on her mouth. “I can help you.”

 

“Not in public.” Torao snapped, bringing a napkin to her mouth. “And stop looking at me like that. I’m pissed at you still for allowing your friends to talk to me on the phone.”

 

“Nami took my phone.” Luffy protested with a pout. Torao gave him a hard look.

 

“It was annoying regardless.”

 

Luffy leaned closer, pouting dramatically. Torao watched him warily as she ate another bite, this one only one meatball. 

 

“Torao.” Luffy whined, hand resting on her thigh. “How did you know I was here?”

 

“You share your location with me, dumbass.” She told him, a forkful of broccoli suddenly pressed to his lips. Luffy made a face and Torao scowled at him until he opened his mouth. He chewed and pouted at the same time.

 

“So you are getting married then?” Vivi suddenly asked, scooting closer to Torao. “Are we going to be invited to the wedding?”

 

“Vivi.” Zoro said sternly. “Don’t be nosy. Nami is rubbing off on you.”

 

“Yeah I am.” Nami snickered. “Every night.”

 

There was a collective groan. Torao took a large drink of her coffee, eyes locking on Luffy. 

 

“You aren’t eating.” She stated. “Everyone else is eating all of the meat. You really weren’t hungry?”

 

“I’m making sure you eat enough.” Luffy told her. She rolled her eyes and finished her last two meatballs, leaving a bit of tomato sauce on her lips. 

 

Luffy didn’t wait for her to clean it off that time and instead surged forward. Torao didn’t move and instead allowed him to greedily suck the tomato sauce from her lips. He pulled back with a pop and grinned, noting the dark look in Torao’s eyes. 

 

“So, Luffy. ” Nami said, causing him to turn his head to face her. “Are we doing anything tomorrow?”

 

Luffy scratched the inside of his nostril. “Oh. Nah.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“It’s just a birthday. It doesn’t really matter.”

 

If Torao was surprised, she didn’t show it. She simply started on her slice of chocolate cake. She was taking large bites and Luffy was so impressed that she had eaten so much food. All the rice was gone. All that was left of the meatballs was a smear of tomato sauce. The vegetables were mostly gone. Torao had eaten. 

 

Luffy reached across the table to pull the large plate of nachos toward him.

 

“Luffy never really does anything for his birthday.” Zoro said. “It’s just a day.”

 

“You guys suck.” Nami muttered, earning several chuckles around the table.

 

They mingled at the bar for a little longer, celebrating Vivi. Torao had a drinking competition with Zoro and Nami again and only beat Zoro because he passed out. Nami and Torao began to push each other and bicker loudly, but their hands lingered and Nami eventually won.

 

Luffy walked Torao home with his arm looped around her waist. She tripped with every step and Luffy eventually coaxed her to ride on his back. 

 

He hummed softly as he enjoyed the scenic walk through the city. It was very late, nearly three in the morning, so the roads were deserted. Torao was slumped on his back, her arms loosely tossed around his neck.

 

“This is embarrassing.” She slurred, head pressing against the top of his. He chuckled and squeezed her thighs.

 

“Don’t worry, Torao.” He told her. “We are almost home.”

 

“You gonna fuck me?” Torao tightened her hold on his neck, surprising him.

 

“I’ll always fuck you.” Luffy told her.

 

“Yeah, you will.” Torao laughed in a way that was almost conspiring. “Because you’re mine, Luffy-ya. That bitch can’t have you. Not now, not ever.”

 

Luffy grinned again. “You mean Hammock?” He asked. “Were you jealous, Torao?”

 

“Fuck yeah.” Torao muttered. “Kissing all over you… and her breasts are so big. ”

 

“Breasts? You were looking?”

 

“And you’re so handsome, Luffy-ya.” Torao pressed a sloppy kiss to his hair. “And so fucking strong. Look at you carrying me.”

 

“Well, you’re so skinny.” Luffy told her as he walked into the large open gate of her condo complex. He flashed a smile at the lone guard gaping at them.

 

“I’m trying.” Torao murmured, kissing his hair again. “Trying to be better.”

 

“Oh yeah? You didn’t even share your meatballs with me.”

 

“I love meatballs.”

 

Luffy chuckled and carried her the rest of the way to her condo. The door was unlocked, which he was going to ask about, until the sound of the television reached his ears. Bepo bounded over to them excitedly, letting out a bark.

 

“Oh, fuck.” Torao groaned. “Those idiots are here. How are you gonna fuck me?”

 

“Wow.” Penguin muttered from the sofa. “You’re welcome for getting your dog from the fucking bar, by the way.”

 

“Who takes a dog to a bar?” Shachi demanded. “Poor Bepo is traumatized!”

 

Bepo sat in front of Luffy with his tail wagging excitedly. Luffy let Torao down and steadied her as she stumbled.

 

“She’s fucking wasted.” Shachi observed. “Cool. You know the drill, Pen.”

 

“Tell us your secrets!” Penguin shouted. Torao dropped to her knees and buried her face in Bepo’s fur. 

 

“He smells so good.” She said happily. “So, so good. He’s the perfect pillow.”

 

“I gave him a bath.” Luffy kicked off his shoes and stretched his toes. Torao smiled up at Luffy with her heart eyes.

 

“I love you.” She told him, earning groans from her dumb friends. “I don’t want you to go with Jinbe-”

 

Fuck. There it was. She was going to make him choose and he was going to hurt her-

 

“-but I know that you need to.” She sighed softly with a small smile. “I know you’ll have a lot of fun. And I took a whole year during school to provide dentistry to the poor children in Whiskey Peak.”

 

“That’s really far away.” Luffy said, heart twisting weirdly. “All by yourself?”

 

“I usually am alone.”

 

“Not anymore.” Luffy dropped to his knees next to her. “You have your dumb friends, too. And you have my friends. They’ll take care of you and make sure you aren’t lonely while I’m gone. Then, when I get back, I’m gonna take you on a super fancy date and you’re gonna eat all the meatballs and tiramisu you want.”

 

Torao’s eyes were glassy. But she didn’t cry. She simply watched him, her face half-hidden by Bepo’s fur.

 

“Awkward…” Shachi muttered. But him and Penguin were smiling almost approvingly at Luffy. 

 

###