Outside In

Chapter One:

Class 3-B

He winced as he peeled off the bandage and squinted at the angry, pink flesh. It was still stitched together, and it didn't look like it would stay together if he took said stitches out. With a sigh, Luffy took the medical tape only to be stopped by Chopper.

"Let me clean it before you go, Bocchan!"

Cringing, Luffy just pressed his eyes shut in wait for the alcohol which stung as expected, "Gaaah, I hate this stuff!"

"It's for your own good though."

"Yeah, yeah, tape it up."

Chopper blinked, tilting his head to the side, "Why? It's not bleeding anymore, Bocchan."

"It's an all girls school! I don't want to scare them with this soon as I walk in. Japanese girls are weird like that."

Chopper pouted, "Girls in South Korea are like that too though ..."

"Then Asian girls are weird!" He sighed as he poked his cheek near the wound.

"You're part Asian too, you know."

"Yeah, but I'm not a girl."

Luffy dressed after Chopper taped it up, and he fumbled a bit with his tie in front of the mirror before finally getting it right. He stuck his tongue out at himself in the mirror, and picked at his white shirt before he just shrugged, and went to the kitchen.

"Ah, Bocchan! You look like a teacher already!" Sanji suddenly pressed a bentou into his hand, beaming at him, "Now be nice to the girls, and take plenty of pictures."

He said, "I ain't taking pictures of them."

"But-!"

"I need to go already! I'll see you later, Sanji."

"Wait, Bocchan," Sanji grabbed his shoulder, and leaned in, "I have to apologize in advance."

"You're not allowed at the school."

"No, I mean, if I ever do meet with you in front of your students, I'll have to call you something other than Bocchan."

"Luffy then."

"I think Saruda-san would suffice …"

"Just Luffy! We're not strangers!"

He stared at the group of girls. He looked down at the books he had been given. Then he looked up at the girls again before he cleared his throat, "Ah, well, I'm Saruda Luffy, and I'll be taking care of all of you until your teacher comes back."

They stared at him silently, and Luffy looked at the door, wondering if he had gone into the wrong classroom. After a moment, one of them raised their hand, "Saruda-sensei?"

"Eh? Aaah ..." he checked the seating chart, putting on his glasses, and he jumped when he heard a multitude of chairs scrape forward. When he looked up, he realized about a dozen were much more attentive looking. "Uh ... yes, Vivi-san?"

She had been one of them, and she was smiling brightly, "We're all here except for Hokaze-san."

"Hokaze?" Luffy looked down at the sheet, searching quickly before his eyes caught the sight of the name 'Hokaze Nami' on one of the seats in the back, "Hmm, sounds familiar …" Shrugging, he set the seating chart aside, and said, "So … I guess I'll test your understanding of English first to see how far you are. I'll start the class by introducing myself in English." Switching easily to the other language, and ignoring their wide, frightened eyes, he said, "I'm Luffy Saruda. I was born in Japan, and my mother was from Brazil, so that makes me half Japanese. We moved to America when I was seven, and I lived there until I was about fourteen and came back to live in Japan. I like to travel for fun. The last place I went was Brazil where I … visited friends." He had actually delivered and traded in armed weapons and done other deals for his dad because he had been ill. "I've been to Italy before too where I met some of my dad's old friends, but I think my favorite place to go is still America. I have a lot of memories there from my childhood, and there's always a new kind of environment to go there." He glanced at the seating chart before he said in Japanese, "Camie-san, what did I do in Brazil?"

Her eyes bulged, staring at him before she shrank a little bit, saying slowly in English, "Visited … friends."

Luffy thought about that before he frowned, "Translate that. I asked in Japanese."

"Eh? Um, you ..." she bit and chewed her lip, hunching her shoulders, "Um, you … you saw your friends!"

Frowning, he looked around at all of the girls and their mostly blank faces before he drooped, "All right … we're doing review then."

The door to the classroom opened as the girls drooped.

Luffy's eyes widened at the sight of the girl who walked in, "Oh, it's you!"

Her own eyes became startled as well before she flushed, "Eh?" Hokaze Nami's eyes darted to his bandage before turning to look at the class who were staring at the two openly. She snapped, pulling the sleeve of her uniform down to her wrist more, "What - what are you doing here?"

"I'm substituting for your class until your teacher comes back."

"What? But when ...?"

"Well, Makino-sensei is pregnant, so-"

"So never then," Nami said before turning to head for the back of the class, and Luffy blinked in surprise.

"Huh?" Seconds later it dawned on him. Nami was wearing the winter uniform with a longer skirt and long sleeves while her peers were in their summer uniforms already.

"She's pregnant, Luffy-sensei," Vivi said, "She'll probably want to stay home with her baby."

He stared at her uncomprehendingly, and one of the other students, Conis, piped up, "Women don't usually come back to work when they have a baby."

"Huh? What're you-?" He groaned then, slapping his forehead, "In Japan." The girls either looked confused or frowned, and he pouted before he sighed, Well, I did want a permanent position. What a terrible way to get it though. "Oh, Nami-san, I was doing review for the class. I'm Luffy Saruda, and I'm from Japan originally. I lived in Japan until I turned seven, and moved to America. I moved back to Japan when I was fourteen." He frowned when she didn't seem to be paying attention, "Nami-san, where did I move when I was fourteen?"

She blinked at him before going back to looking at her nails, "America."

"Wrong," he sighed, and scratched his cheek before he said, "We'll start with practicing the more simple phrases and go from there ..."

Luffy stared down at his bentou, and then looked up at his new homeroom class before slowly stepping inside. After all if he were to get a permanent position, getting along with his students was his first priority.

He blinked when he saw another teacher, and he went over to join her, "Sorry ... Boa-sensei, right?"

Her neck snapped into place, glaring at him, "No, I won't date thee."

He blinked rapidly at that, "Don't want to. I wanted to know-"

Standing quickly, her eyes widened in shock, "What … what was that!?"

Luffy frowned at her, "I just wanted to make sure about your name … And what're you doing in here anyway? I know I'm just substituting for now, but-"

"How - how could thou not?"

"Huh?"

They had the attention of the entire class at that point. Boa said, "I am Boa Hancock. Men and women everywhere stop and stare when I walk by! My beauty calls upon all talent scouts to hover and whimper before me!" She placed her hand on her chest, and Luffy looked down at the movement only to catch sight of something, "Thou see it now, Luffy-sensei? The ends of me beauty are limitless. Lying dredge, thou art staring even now-"

"Wow, your bentou looks great!"

She blinked, and even flushed a bit, "Eh?"

"Sushi, and oh! Even sashimi and those little octopus dogs! Shishishi, those are neat!" He bent over the bentou, admiring it before pulling out his to show her, "Sanji does that kind of thing too, see?"

"Sanji ...?" She said a bit breathlessly.

"My cook. Sanji."

She stared at him, and he tilted his head until she said, "Oh, I see ..."

When he sat down across from her seat, she slowly sat down as well, "So your cook does the same thing, huh?"

She nodded after a moment, still staring at him, "Yes, she's very good." Flushing then, she said hurriedly, "I mean, I can cook as well, of course!"

"She blushed!" Luffy blinked, glancing back at the sound of the strangely hushed gasp.

"Wow, she looks exquisite!"

"Boa-sensei, good luck!"

"Boa Hancock-sensei ..."

"They look so good together!"

"Good luck, Boa-sensei!"

"Uh … yeah, I didn't say you couldn't cook," Luffy said after a moment, pouting.

Boa nodded, "I'm the home economics teacher. I make sure all of these young ladies will turn out to be wonderful wives."

He blinked, looking up from his food to stare at her instead, "You what?"

"So I can cook all sorts of things. Classic meals to wonderful sushi and even lovely treats and sweets."

Luffy sighed, and quickly finished eating before he got up to leave, "Yeah, sounds nice. Bye."

She sighed after him, "Goodbye, Luffy-sensei."

He rubbed his head, going up to the roof. Up there, he began to relax as he leaned back against the railing with a sigh.

"I've been expecting you."

Startled, he reached into his shirt for the gun that wasn't there, only to stare at Nami who was walking across the roof towards him. Sighing, he relaxed, and pulled his hand out of his shirt, and buttoned it up again, "Sorry."

"Oh, don't put your guard down just yet."

He tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms, "Why? You can't really do anything. We're at school."

"I should head down, and tell another teacher that you tried to buy me into a love hotel."

He grinned, "And explain those scratches and bruises to the police?"

Nami pursed her lips, pulling back her sleeve a bit to look at the bandages and bruises, "Well … maybe I struggled against you ..."

"How's the search going for your attacker?"

She blinked, pulling her sleeve back down quickly, "It's going."

Smiling, he nodded, "That's good. I hope they find him, and give him a good run over."

She crossed her arms, looking out over the edge of the roof to the ground, "Yeah … that'd be good ..."

"I was surprised to see you here. I thought you were a lot older."

Nami frowned at him, "Am I old looking or something?"

"Nah, just mature looking."

Her cheeks burned bright pink then, and he tilted his head in confusion. Nami shuffled back a few steps, and even turned away a bit, crossing her arms, "Maybe I should talk to one of the other teachers. Tell them how you're hitting on me."

Jaw dropping, he said, "Huh!? How is that hitting on you!?"

Putting her hands on her hips, she smirked over at him, and said, "I'm too young for you, Luffy-sensei."

"You're going out with Arlong anyway. Why would I try to steal you from him? My dad needs to keep a good relationship with the other bosses if he's going to be successful, and I don't want to ruin this for him."

Frowning, she looked straight at him, "You really don't … Man! You must be a freak or something. Whoever heard of some Brazilian bocchan anyway?"

He pouted, "Oi, oi, don't say that out loud."

"Then don't mention Arlong," she scowled, and walked past him, heading downstairs.

Sorry for the wait. I recently moved across the country, and my job and life are very different from when I used to write stories. Hopefully, I'll be able to get into a position where I'll be able to write like I used to, but for now, it might be another wait for the next chapter.