Roommates

Ch 1: The Deal

The short hand on the huge grandfather clock at the end of the courtyard was on the IV and the longer hand at the VIII.

Nami scowled down at the piece of paper in her hand.

"Alright, Building... E…Building E..." she muttered, then scanned the towering structures above her for the big letter before spotting it a little ways to her left, slightly hidden behind the branches of a sakura tree. She appraised the building with a critical eye.

Looks okay from the outside.

Ignoring the looks some people gave her as they milled about the campus, the orangette stuffed the piece of paper back into her purse, curled her fingers around the handle of her rolling suitcase, grabbed the handle of the cart carrying her precious mikan trees, and continued on her way to her assigned building. This wasn't the first time she'd been on her own but it was the first time she'd been away from her home in Cocoyashi. Nojiko, while being proud of her younger sister for getting into this elite university, felt conflicted at the thought of Nami leaving and actually staying at a new place for four years. It was only after Nami had vowed (on Bellemere's grave) that she'd come visit at least once a month that her sister had finally let her go.

"My little Na-chan, all grown up," the violet-haired girl had cooed as the subject of her affection rolled her eyes and gave her one last hug.

Now as she stepped into the furnished building, entirely on her own, Nami realized with a pang in her heart that she already really missed her older adoptive sister, who she always took comfort in being there even if everything else in her life went down the drain as shit. But Nami knew that what she was doing could help Nojiko as much as it could help herself. This was their chance to have a future, and to not have taken that chance would've resulted, Nami was sure, in a miserable life of pain and regret. So the orangette lifted her chin and walked like she had every right to be there.

The main floor of Building E was spacious and, from what she could see as she stepped through the sliding doors, consisted of a dining room, breakfast bar, student lounge, and a small gym, all filled with students of different sizes and years. Gold signs indicated an outdoor pool and spa, a bathroom, and a study area to the right. It was pretty nice for a building provided for those with less favorable financial circumstances, Nami observed, listening to the gentle notes of a piano playing over the speakers, and wondered how luxurious the other housings were if this one was considered 'adequate' living. Nami flashed her ID to a bored-looking supervisor behind a desk and at his nod, made her way to an elevator on the other side of the room.

The elevator dinged once it got to the fourth floor and Nami gathered her things once more to step out into a white hallway with two black and gold stripes - the university's colors - running down its length.

She spoke the room numbers under her breath as she passed them. "...430...432...434...yosh- 436."

The room was adjacent to a staircase at the end of the hallway and Nami let go of one of her charges to experimentally twist the doorknob. She breathed a sigh of relief when it clicked open - she didn't have the room key, having taken one look at the long line of students gathered at the main building and deciding, if anything, she could just pick the lock on her door and go back for her key after settling in.

She stepped into her dorm room and took in the small kitchen, complimentary tables and chairs, and an empty carpeted space she immediately designated as the living room. Sunlight filtered in through a screen glass door to her right that she could see led out to a balcony and illuminated the small beige room with its warm glow. It was perfect.

Nami couldn't stop a large grin from spreading across her face.

"Tadaima~."

She took her time exploring her new dorm, excited and nervous about this new change. It helped that it wasn't much bigger than where she and Nojiko had lived.

She found the bedroom to be a small but cozy space, a single window on the wall opposite the door looking out onto the main campus and shadowed by a familiar sakura tree. There was an adjoining bathroom that contained a shower, a toilet and two sinks. The sight of the two basins gave her stomach a tight twist.

That's right, she thought, trying and failing to stop a grimace as she sat heavily on her suitcase, I'll be sharing this room and everything else here with some other person.

She almost forgot about the conditions for student housing at this university. Having never met the person that she was apparently going to live with left Nami with a feeling of dread and apprehensiveness.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

She shook her head, blurring the thought away. She couldn't back out now, after all she'd done to get here. It was just a roommate. Besides, she reasoned cheekily, it meant she only had to pay half the rent.

She left her suitcase and purse in the bedroom and moved on to the living room. There she made a mental note to buy some furniture (along with toiletries and some food) before mapping out where the couch and small library for all her textbooks and literature would go. The kitchen, she observed, was modest, with a stove and working fridge and freezer, as well as a pantry filled with old onion skins (she'd have to clean that out, and added cleaning supplies to her list of things to buy).

Nami then walked around the kitchen counter to the big cart carrying her mikan trees. Some dirt had escaped from the pots she had placed the garden in, but nothing she couldn't sweep away. She took the handle of the cart and proceeded to roll her mikan trees out to the balcony. After folding a couple chairs to the side, she arranged the trees side by side, taking special care that the branches didn't overlap and risk tipping the others. She was sweating lightly when she finally finished, dusting the dirt off her hands and wiping the perspiration away, before stepping back to admire the way the sun shined on the orange skins of the fruits.

"Belle-mere's best," she murmured, her voice tinged with sadness.

She reached out and was about to pluck a particularly big, ripe one from a branch when there was a knock at the door.

She whirled around at the sound, sucking in a sharp breath. Already? Maybe her roommate had done what she had and skipped the line.

She scrambled to get past the cart blocking her way back inside and cursed as she stubbed her toe on one of the wheels.

"Coming!" She called after hearing another light knock, and made her way towards the door, the anxiety and anticipation churning in her stomach taking over the pain on her toe.

At the other side of that wooden door, was the one person that would make her new home hell or heaven. And in such close quarters, that person would either become a welcomed friend or an unwanted company.

For a whole year.

Her steps slowed down drastically.

She had promised herself not to have too many expectations but as she drew closer to the door, her imagination went wild with possibilities…

Perhaps her new roommate was a curious foreign exchange student, studying abroad to learn of the different cultures found on the other side of the world. (Would she be older or younger? Would she like sharing rooms with a girl who's hobbies were making maps and tending to her plants?)

Or maybe she was a goth chic, with great fashion sense but a perturbing hobby of taking pictures of people sleeping. (Here Nami wondered if she should set some ground rules for things like that. Or would that come off as being too strict?)

But the girl could also be a bookworm type, with a quiet, mature air about her and a strange love for the unusual. (Nami had a feeling they'd get along great.)

She stopped at the door, fingertips brushing the golden doorknob.

She took a deep breath and grimaced, thoughts of the unknown turning dark.

(Because what if she was a party girl, who went out every other night and didn't come back until the morning after, completely hungover? Or worse - Nami paled - brought drunk guys with her to bed where they did things all night long, without a care for the suffering neighbor on the next bed over-)

Another light knock brought her back to reality. She shut her eyes tight, swung the door open and-

Nami blinked.

Tanned skin. Sunglasses perched on long dark hair. Striking blue eyes…. But it was the distinctive nose that gave it away.

Robin?

"Robin?" she asked out loud. Then with more excitement, the initial surprise fading. "Robin!"

Nami grinned, her smile wide and true because she knew this woman - this wonderful, non-bitchy, bookworm-type young woman. Comical tears streamed down the orangette's face in uncontained relief.

She knew Nico Robin since high school and, although she had been first-year student while the older girl was a third-year, they had kept in touch even after Robin's graduation and Nami considered the beautiful brunette one of her closest friends. And now she was going to be her roommate.

This was too good to be true.

Robin greeted her with a warm smile. "Good evening, Nami."

Nami leapt onto her as a response, squeezing her hard, words muffled into her friend's shoulder. "It sure is, isn't it?"

Robin chuckled, patting her back. Nami pulled away, but held on to the girl's shoulders as if she was going to disappear any second.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not really caring that the question was a stupid one. Robin was her new roommate, after all - why wouldn't she be here?

The older girl's electric blue eyes sparked with amusement. "Well, I had to come and see you. I'm glad you weren't run over by a bus on your way here."

Nami sweatdropped at the morbid comment. She hasn't changed at all, she thought, feeling thankful that she wasn't a completely new person.

"Nope," Nami responded happily. "Took the train from Cocoyashi and used a map to get here."

Robin eyebrows twitched upwards, a tell Nami had learned meant that she was either amused or puzzled by something. "A map?"

Nami pouted, crossing her arms defensively. "We shouldn't always be dependent on technology, Robin. I'd rather use my brain rather than be some slave to my electronics, always telling me where to go."

"Although," she muttered, and Robin could almost hear the ka-ching sound effect as her narrowed eyes abruptly changed into belli signs. "Online shopping does have its benefits."

The older girl chuckled, also relieved that the only drastic thing that seemed to change about Nami was the length of her hair.

Nami joined her in laughter and their giggles echoed down the hall. A sudden giddiness took hold of the orange-haired girl as she imagined all the fun days ahead with her friend - it would be a sleepover every night! And no doubt Robin definitely had some counsel she could share about surviving the first year of college. Even being in different grades, they could help each other with their studies or go through all-nighters together cramming for exams. And they could go shopping on the weekends, or attend some of the more infamous parties on campus.

Nami beamed. She couldn't wait to start this college bonding experience. She took the older girl's hand, impatiently pulling her towards the doorway.

"Well, come on now, don't be stranger - we're gonna be living with each other for a whole year. We can talk more inside- hm?" Robin didn't budge, and Nami looked back to see a questioning frown on her friend's face.

A strange, sinking feeling started deep in her gut, like someone had stabbed a tiny hole into her stomach so the air could come out as slowly and painfully as possible. Nami certainly felt deflated watching her friend's face crinkle in confusion. Her next words further pricked at the girl's last bubble of hope.

"Your roommate's not here?"

Nami didn't answer, looking down and belatedly remarking how her friend didn't have any suitcases or bags with her, only a small violet purse on her shoulder. She turned to the older girl, eyes pleading, before asking the glaring obvious.

"You're... not my roommate?"

With every slow shake of Robin's dark head, Nami could feel her heart drop down a few ribs before settling all the way down to her stomach.

Because that meant her roommate was still out there, unknown and possibly a serial killer for all she knew (and this sore mistake proved she knew nothing). For sure that person was no Robin.

Said girl, for her part, tried to reassure her with her own knowledge of the roommate process when she noticed her friend's apparent disappointment. "The administration takes into account your interests and personality before matching you up with someone they think will be a suitable match for you. I'm sure whoever it is will be someone to your liking."

Nami nodded dejectedly, barely registering her words as she wallowed in disappointment. Now that she had met someone she knew, she didn't want to go back to guessing. Damn it, it was too good to be true.

"Who's the lucky gal that got you?" Nami mumbled bitterly.

"You might know her actually," Robin mused. "She said you guys became friends after I left... Nefertari Vivi."

Nami's head shot up, hazelnut orbs wide. No way.

"Nani?! Vivi?! She's here, too?!" She remembered the younger girl very well, having befriended her in her last two years of high school. The girl had been a grade below her.

"Aa," Robin nodded, face serious. "She makes quite the delicious pancakes."

Nami groaned, pouting, on the verge of real tears this time. "That's so unfair, Robin! How come I get stuck with someone I don't know and you guys get to be all comfortable and chummy with each other?"

"That's how it was my first year here, too," Robin admitted. "Believe me when I say I hated the thought of sharing such a small space with someone I didn't know." She smiled. "But now I consider Koala one of my closest friends."

"If you say so," Nami sulked, still not convinced.

Robin stepped forward to place an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "This is your first year here as well as your first time on campus, correct? It's going to be difficult but I know you can do it, Nami."

Nami looked up just as Robin reached into her purse and brought out two silver keys, each on a separate ring. The number 436 was engraved on their heads. Her eyes widened. "That's-"

"Aa. One for you, and one for your roommate," Robin explained. "I personally requested to bring it for you so you didn't have to be stampeded by the horde of college first years on campus."

She took Nami's hand and placed them on her palm. Nami instantly closed her fingers over it, the metallic grooves rubbing gently against her skin. She gazed at her fist for a long moment - the keys to her future literally in the palm of her hand, when she thought about it.

"You have friends here, Nami," the dark-haired woman reminded her. "And we'll help you in anyway we can."

Nami slowly let a smile curve her lips. "I know," she answered. Her clenched fist tightened around the two keys, bringing it up near to her beating chest. I know.

She nodded firmly, eyes shining in gratitude. "Arigato… Robin!"

Robin grinned. "Welcome to One Piece University, Nami."

She waved Robin goodbye after exchanging room information and promising to stop by when she could.

Nami clenched the keys harder in her fist as she watched the dark head of long hair disappear down the flight of stairs. Even with all the uncertainty ahead of her, Nami knew what her goals were and what she had to do to accomplish them. It had nothing to do with her roommate, so she shouldn't let such a trivial thing get her down. She had plenty of work to do.

She stepped back into her new home, a newfound determination taking root in her chest as she closed the door behind her with a heeled sandal. She set both keys on the tiny round table by the wall and stretched languidly. Just as she was about to slip off her sandals and resume tending to her mikans, another knock sounded at the door.

Did she forget something? Nami thought, heading back. She racked her brain but couldn't remember anything her friend had dropped or forgotten. She had just left Nami with the keys.

She swung the door open. "What's the mat-"

She froze.

Her heart, which had managed to slowly climb its way back up to her chest, plummeted down to her feet so fast it left her breathless.

And it wasn't the good kind of breathless, like what happens in those cheesy rom-coms Nojiko and her used to make fun of where the girl locks eyes with the love of her life who just happens to be extremely hot and the world slows down and nothing else matters.

Nami wouldn't have minded if it was that kind of breathless.

But no. It was far from that.

Far, far from that.

It was the kind of breathless where she couldn't believe how bad her luck was. The kind where, with so many emotions battling in her mind, all she could do was gape as all her expectations burned to the ground. The kind of breathless that could only happen when the roommate she had imagined in her head didn't even come close - didn't even come a millimeter closer - to the one that looked straight into her shocked eyes before giving her the widest grin she could possibly imagine on anyone's face and chirping:

"Ohayo, Roomie!"

Nami slammed the door in his face.

She breathed hard, spread-eagled against the other side of the door, sweat beading on her forehead as the image of the messy-haired boy with a scar on his left cheek and bright grin engraved into her mind.

Nami took a deep breath. Counted backwards from ten. Let it go.

His words echoed in her head - 'Ohayo, roomie!'

(roomie…)

(roomie…!)

No.

This couldn't be happening.

This couldn't be happening.

This isn't happening.

She ran a trembling hand through her slowly graying locks. Her roommate couldn't possibly be-

"...someone they think will be a suitable match…"

Nami gritted her teeth. In what demented hell of a world was a guy her "suitable match" for a roommate? She felt like screaming. Was this school crazy? Didn't they know that a girl and a boy sharing a room was a recipe for disaster? Haven't they heard what goes on in college campuses even when a girl and boy didn't room together?

And more importantly, Nami thought, as she felt her face heat up in anger and embarrassment, did they really think she was going to step aside and accept this?!

"Oi," came a muffled voice behind her. The doorknob started to wiggle and Nami screeched out a curse, twisting around to viciously force the knob back into position before locking it. She jumped back when the guy knocked again, more insistent, jostling the doorknob.

"Hey! Open up!"

Her mind was racing. She groped blindly for the most plausible reason why a member of the opposite sex would be knocking down her door in the middle of the day other than for the reason she refused to believe.

"O-okay," she started, voice shaky. "Joke's over. I don't know who you are but if Robin put you up to this then she did a really good job of scaring me, okay? You got me good. Hahaha."

Her laugh sounded like an ostrich choking. "This must be some Freshman-Scare-Initiation thing, right? Well, uh, mission accomplished, you are dismissed."

There was a long silence on the other side of the door. Then-

"Huh? What are you talking about, lady?"

She couldn't tell if he was serious or not, what with the piece of wood muffling his voice and hiding his facial expression, but at his words Nami felt her blood pressure reach a new high. Why her? Why now, just when she was just feeling like she could take on anything anyone threw at her?

She bit her lip, deciding to test him. "Why don't you have your key?"

"Ah, gomen," he replied, and she weirdly imagined him scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I was supposed to get it at the office but there was a long line so my dad found the room number they emailed me so I decided to come here before going back down-"

"Stop screwing around with me," she snapped, irritated now that his situation sounded a lot like what she had done. "It's not funny, alright? My roommate's gonna be here any second and I can't have an idiot like you standing in her way."

"...What are you talking about?" his muffled voice repeated, sounding bewildered. "I am your room-"

"I know exactly who you are!" she yelled over him.

"You do?" he sounded surprised. "Then why can't I come in?"

She narrowed her eyes at the kitchen counter in front of her, arms crossed. "You're a pervert trying to trick me into letting you in so you can steal my underwear and share it with all your buddies."

"...Eh?"

"Well you can forget it," she said steadily. "Try a different room." She started to walk away.

"Listen, lady, I don't know what you-"

She jumped when she heard what sounded like two wolves growling from behind the door.

"Aah... hara hetaaa..." he suddenly whined.

Nami rolled her eyes. "Then stop wasting your time here and go eat."

"Ah! You're right!" She heard him loudly walk away in what sounded like flip flops and sweat-dropped, wondering if it was really that easy.

"But," she heard him say, his voice a little harder to hear now. "I don't want to carry all this heavy stuff, it'll slow me down."

She heard him walk back to the door and knock again. "Ne, can I come in to put my stuff down?"

"No," she refused simply.

"Eh? Why not?"

Nami almost face-planted on the floor. W-who is this idiot? We just went over this!

"Mah, whatever. I'll come by later."

"You do that," she answered, hearing a thump by the door and quickly fading footsteps. She rolled her eyes - of course this guy left his luggage right in front of her door, out in the open, ready for anyone to steal.

The second she was sure he was gone, she all but sprinted to her room to get her purse. She frowned as clipped on her ID, the empty space behind her mocking now, feet away from her own space. She closed the door to the room before taking both keys from the table and shoving it in her bag.

She believed he'd be back. Unlike her, he didn't seem shocked she was of the opposite sex. And she was 99.98 percent sure that it was recognition that sparked in his eyes, just a second before he smiled and chirped that annoying greeting and she slammed the door in his face. But she was 100 percent sure she'd never seen that guy before in her life.

Maybe she was making an unnecessarily big deal out of this mishap, but a mistake like this couldn't go unchecked. She had to hurry, or else she would be stuck with her so-called roommate for the next year (not that she believed he was actually her designated 'roomie' of course - she just wanted to more safe than sorry.)

This situation wasn't one she could rely on her lazy-looking student building supervisor to handle, she reasoned as she locked the door with one of the keys before tripping over a red gym bag.

Her eye twitched as she glared at the bags strewn haphazardly across her welcome mat. It took all of her self-control to keep herself from kicking them down the stairs.

Instead, she stepped over the lumpy things and stormed down the steps, one goal and only one in mind.

She was going to pay a little visit to the President of OPU.

"Is this him?"

Nami blinked, taking in the toothy grin, wild dark hair, and thin scar on his left cheek behind the thin glass. She nodded in confirmation.

"He looks a little young there but yeah, that's the pervert."

She breathed a sigh of relief, straightening up on the cushioned chair at the President's office. "I take it since you have his picture, you must be keeping an eye on him-"

"Well, he is my son."

"-and I'm sure this whole- WHAT?!"

Nami's eyes bulged out at the grinning man in front of her, unhinged jaw on the carpeted floor, complete and utter bewilderment not even beginning to explain how she felt at that moment. She looked back and forth, gaping between the tattooed man and the picture he held in his hand, seeing no resemblance at all that could've warned her that the guy she just called a pervert was the President's very own freaking offspring. Heat crept up her cheeks, an embarrassment like no other taking hold of her as she fought to keep her voice from squeaking.

"I'm- Nani- H-he's your- he's your son?!" she managed to stutter out.

"That is correct," President Monkey D. Dragon grinned proudly but it looked more like a sinister grin with his black widow's peak and eyebrows scrunched down on his forehead. "He was seventeen in this photo, which is why he looks younger."

He put the framed photo down, looking to Nami with what she guessed was supposed to be a comforting smile but just looked like he was smirking. "I'm sorry if you misunderstood his intentions, Miss Nami. Luffy probably thought you..."

Nami zoned out, still gaping, still trying to absorb the fact that that boy she saw was the President's son. Wasn't he supposed to get some kind of ... well, presidential suite? What was he doing all the way down in the tiny, financially-challenged rooms?

"...and I take full responsibility for giving you such a scare," the President was saying. "I got caught up in administration meetings, it being the first week and all, and Ivankov must've forgotten as well to call you down..."

Vaguely, Nami wondered why he wasn't explaining how this was all a huge misunderstanding - how his idiot son got the rooms mixed up when he was supposed to be headed to the more luxurious side of campus and not scare the living daylights out a poor girl who just wanted to tend to her mikan graden.

"...so here we are-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir," Nami cut in, trying to calm the twisting of her stomach. "Just to be clear, this whole thing was a mistake, right? Your son-..."

"Luffy?"

"Hai. Luffy. He just lost his way and I just happened to be in that room he knocked on. He's not my actual roommate, right?" She started to laugh, saying it outloud making it even more ridiculous.

"I mean," she giggled. "He's a guy, and I'm, well, not. So you can see...how this would... cause...conflict..."

Nami teetered off when Dragon's grin dropped until all that was left was a frown, quite a serious look on his lean visage. He leaned forward and cleared his throat.

"You see Miss Nami-"

"NO!" President Dragon's raised his eyebrows and Nami slapped a hand to her mouth, just as surprised by her outburst. Her heart was jumping all over the place but she made sure she lowered her voice to calm herself down.

"I-I'm sorry, Dragon-san, sir, but whatever the reason, I can't-"

"I'm willing to pay for all of your household costs."

Cha-ching!

"-not hear out what you have to say first, President-san," Nami finished, and Dragon sweatdropped as her caramel-colored orbs transformed into shining belli. He cleared his throat once more.

"I reviewed your file, Miss Nami. The only thing that held you back from coming here last year was your financial situation. You excel in all academic levels, and are well beyond your years in maturity, courtesy of what you've gone through in the past decade. You're street-smart, talented in the age-old art in cartography and topography, and have a great ambition to help others in need."

She pursed her lips, feeling honored to be praised by the President of One Piece University himself, but wondering how he got all that from just a file.

"Uh, thank you, President Dragon-san but what does this have to do with my rooming with your son?"

Dragon sighed heavily. "My son-..."

"Luffy?"

"Hai. Luffy. He's... unique." Dragon leaned back in his chair, eyes closed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Not to say my boy's not smart - you should see the calculations he makes about meals he's missed, or how he makes impossible distances on the football field. He's underestimated, and more intelligent than he makes you believe."

Nami nodded, waiting for the 'but'.

Dragong sighed again. "But when it comes to living on his own, I don't think I can leave an apartment in his hands."

"So why not put him with a roommate?"

Dragon stared at her.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, reminding herself that he was the executive head of the whole university. "Other than me, sir."

The President put a hand under his chin. "He's only requested to be with his friends, but they either didn't have great habits themselves or already had roommates. The system works so that the roommates are a suitable match for each other," Nami bit her inside cheek to keep from groaning at that phrase, "and so there's less chance of fights or accidents happening."

He fixed her with a look. "That's where you come in."

"Me?" she repeated stupidly.

"Yes," Dragon replied, almost murmuring. "Smart, responsible, driven, and to top it off with a reportedly fire temper-" Nami flushed, ready to argue that statement when he continued - "you're perfect for keeping Luffy in line."

"E-to... with all due respect," Nami started, seeing many problems in this arrangement even with his initial promise to take care of expenses, "your son and I probably aren't as suitable a match as you think. Even if it was a misunderstanding, we still ended up butting heads before he even went inside. Plus, there's the fact that even if he's not a pervert, he's still a male with, I'm sure, perfectly healthy hormones and I don't think-"

She stopped when the President abruptly laughed, really a chuckle for how brief it was, and she felt her face glow from the mortification of it all. Was she seriously about to explain to this Luffy guy's dad about his son's potential sex drives? She bent her head down and clenched the hem of her dress, wondering once more how she got herself into this situation.

"You don't have to worry, Miss Nami," he waved off.

"Huh?" she looked up, not expecting that answer. At all.

Dragon leaned forward on his desk, muttering, "Between you and me, sometimes I wonder if that boy is actually asexual."

Nami sweatdropped as he grinned. "But it turns out he's just not interested in that type of stuff. Otherwise, I'd never have considered a girl to be his roommate. Saves me the trouble of giving him the Talk, that's for sure."

Nami was speechless, not sure what to make of that, not sure at all of what to make of her new roommate, Luffy.

She did have one more question, though.

"Ano... Dragon-san... did your son-" she hesitated, then rephrased her inquiry. "Have your son and I ever met before? It sounds strange but I feel like he recognized me when he saw me."

"Oh?" The President looked confused for a moment before raising his eyebrows in understanding.

"Ah, yes. I feel inclined to apologize once more for the confusion. I mentioned before that you were supposed to be called down to this office - that was so you two could be properly introduced, but too many things were going on. Luffy got here, saw your picture and didn't take long to approve you as his roommate so I thought things would go fine."

"That explains it, then," Nami sighed, blowing forward a loose curl in front of her face.

"Still," Dragon said, "I'm glad you managed to get here."

He sent her a grin that didn't look like a grimace or a smirk and she started for a second, blinking fast. It was just a grin, but she could finally see what made her roommate his son for sure.

"It's a pleasure to meet one of Rayleigh's recommendations."

She opened her mouth to ask what was going to be a ton of questions to bury him under but Dragon wisely opened a folder on his desk, clicked open a pen, and spoke the four magic words.

"Now let's talk finances."

It was sundown when Nami finally made it out of the main campus. She walked the twenty minutes to her dorm building, mulling over President's Dragon's easy deal. It would've been foolish of her not to take it - a whole year's rent, including extra cash for food and basic needs in exchange for keeping an eye on his son?

She was practically swindling the man out of a small portion of his riches.

But, and Nami scowled at this particular fact, she still had to live with a boy.

Having lived with Nojiko all her life, Nami had no prior experience to how males behaved behind closed doors. She made a face and stepped into the air conditioned building. And this Luffy guy seems particularly difficult.

She sighed for the umpteenth time that day and reminded herself it was only for a year. In that time, she would be so busy adjusting to her new life that her living arrangements would just be a background to everything going on.

It won't be so bad, she assured herself as she stepped out of the elevator and noticed that his bags were still in front of the door. Upon unlocking the door and flicking on the light, she realized she still had her roommate's copy of the key in her possession and entertained the idea of accidentally forgetting to leave the door unlocked and - oops - unfortunately falling asleep before he came.

But also unfortunate was that she wasn't that cruel. Nami sighed dejectedly as she slowly retracted her hand from where it was going to twist shut the lock. After all, unwanted company was better than no company, right? (Right?)

Feeling sticky from the walk and deciding a long shower was definitely overdue, she walked into the bedroom (it was too dim and she groped for a minute for the light switch) to take out a fresh pair of pajamas and underwear from her suitcase along with her bathrobe, body wash, shampoo, toothbrush and paste. She also pulled out her futon and rolled it out onto the floor, tossing two fluffy pillows on top and her mint green blanket on top. It had been a long day and she planned to get her beauty rest for tomorrow's shopping spree. The smile that grew on her face was wicked - she didn't dread the idea of spending her money now that the President was willing to pay for all of it. And she sure as hell didn't plan on holding back.

She left the clothes out on her futon and padded to the bathroom with the rest of her stuff in hand to indulge in a nice, warm shower..

Twenty minutes later, Nami stepped out of the steaming bathroom, voluminous hair wrapped in a towel, body cocooned in her soft bathrobe, eyes closed and humming a nonsensical tune, in a much better mood now that she was clean.

She put her worn clothes in a bag and discarded it into a corner (and added 'laundry basket' to her long list of things to buy tomorrow). She stripped herself of her robe and, feeling the sudden chill of a cold breeze, quickly slid on her underwear and pajamas. Then she took the fluffy wrap from her hair and let the damp strands cascade down her shoulders.

"How do girls do that?"

Nami almost lost a pipe from the sheer pitch of her shriek, jumping three feet up in the air, every hair on her body bristled in absolute fright. Even with the adrenaline pumping in her veins, a part of her mind still registered with a heavy dread that she knew that voice and it was only confirmed when she whipped around to face the intruder, wet hair slapping on her cheeks, heart trying to burst out of her chest.

Her roommate was there, blinking at her owlishly from his perch on the windowsill. He pointed at something in her hand and Nami numbly registered it as her towel.

He cocked his head in confusion. "How does your hair not get tangled in there? You just pull it off and it's all nice and flowy." He stared at her for another second before he smacked his fist into his palm, looking as if he just solved one of the greatest mysteries.

"Ah, I see. Mystery tow-"

"THAT'S NOT IT!" Nami screeched, gaining back her voice. She glowered at him, heat rising to her cheeks, finally having settled on how to feel in this absolutely mortifying situation.

Angry. Definitely angry.

"How long have you been here?!" she snapped. "What the hell are you doing in my room?!"

"Huh?" He stepped down from the window, his carefree attitude about her having caught him outright... peeping at her like the pervert Dragon-san had insisted he wasn't grinding on her nerves. "Are you still going on about that?"

She blinked, fury giving way to confusion for a second.

He sighed as if she was the insane one in all this. She let her eyebrows scrunch in permanent scowl as her roommate gave her an infuriatingly patient stare.

"Orewa Monkey D. Luffy," he formally introduced himself, before sticking out his hand in a handshake. He grinned. "I'm your roommate."

She gawked at his offered hand and back at his grinning face, wondering if this guy was for real. He looked at her expectantly.

Yeah. He was.

Nami slapped his hand away.

"I know who you are," she growled.

He frowned at her. "I don't want your panties-"

"BAKA! THAT'S NOT-" she took a deep breath, lowered her voice, "that's not what I meant."

He crossed his arms and cocked his head. "Then what do you mean?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Answer my question first. How long have you been here?"

"Since I saw you walk out of the bathroom with your mystery towel," he said unabashedly, and she squawked at his blunt reply. "If you knew who I was then how come you locked me out? I had to climb through the window."

She glared at him with reddened cheeks, nowhere near ashamed that he saw her shapely body in all its full glory as she was angry that he saw it without her permission. "I didn't know who you were at the time until I talked to your dad."

Then she shook her head, unable to keep the disbelief out of her voice. "Ch-chotto matte...you're telling me you climbed up four stories to get in here?"

"I don't know what books have to do with it but I climbed up that pink tree and the window was open so I came in. Because you locked me out." His voice was accusing.

She refused to let him turn the tables on her. "How come you didn't say anything when you saw me come out?!"

"I thought you saw me and I was distracted by your mystery towel until you started to strip right in front of-"

She punched him hard on the head and he crouched down in pain, eyes bulging.

"Itaiii! That hurt!" He looked up at her angrily, cradling the large lump on his head. "What'd you do that for?!"

A dark aura surrounded her form as her eyebrow twitched incessantly. "I'm only going to say this once, Monkey D. Luffy, so listen well and listen good," Nami stated menacingly, and for once he did a smart thing and kept his mouth shut. "The only reason I'm not throwing you out of that damn window right now and watch you bleed out in the cold is because your father presented me with a very generous offer in order to babysit you for the whole year. I am by no means a girl who forgives twice, and you just wasted your first and last mercy card on this latest stunt."

He opened his mouth to retort but it clacked shut when she took him by his red vest and brought him close to her face. Her hazelnut orbs pierced straight into his obsidian ones.

"Roommates. That's all we'll ever be for the next year. Nothing less, nothing more. Are we clear... Luffy?"

He looked at her for a beat too long and she shook him a little. "H-hai," he hastily agreed.

An overly sweet smile graced her lips. "Good."

She let him go and he slumped to the floor, a bewildered look on his face as he blinked multiple times, as if coming out of a trance.

Nami stretched languidly, glad that that was settled but somehow knowing that it wouldn't be that easy.

"By the way, my name's Nami."

He followed her form as she crawled under her blanket and snuggled her pillow.

He suddenly grinned. "Yeah, I know."

She looked at him with a half-lidded gaze before huffing and turning around to face the wall. She closed her eyes. There was a shuffling noise behind her and she imagined he was getting situated for bed. She couldn't sleep with the light on.

She opened her eyes and turned around. "Hey could you-"

Her eyes widened and she abruptly stopped talking, her mouth slightly open in an unfinished request as she watched Luffy's lean figure whip the towel across his back and walk uncaringly in front of her to the bathroom, seemingly not having heard her talk. He was stark naked.

Her cheeks burned.

Nami slowly pulled the blanket over her head and took a deep, shaky breath.

A whole year with this guy.

Yeah. This was not going to be easy.

"GOD the LuNa fandom is dry af in here. what's happening people?!" says me, the hypocrite who hasn't updated in months.

hey. life gets in the way. senior year is tough people. v.v

anyway. i hope some, if not all, of you readers enjoyed this barf of a chappie. im sure most of you are familiar with the japanese terms i like throwing in there but just in case...

tadaima: "I'm home"

ohayo: "hello"

chotto matte: "wait a moment/second"

orewa: "I'm/ I am"

baka: "idiot"

hai : "yes/ I agree"

fun fact: this was supposed to be a oneshot but after surpassing 20k words I was like, o.O maybe I should make it into a story... *shrug*

so here we are.

tell me what you guys think! ur thoughts are very much appreciated :)

(Lost ch 2 up next.) (hopefully.) (gah, i just jinxed it.)

- forgottensong