Looking for balance

17. Exposed

Thanks to KumaZura for proof reading this chapter.

***

"Nami, I got a new fighting technique to test!" Luffy exclaimed as he turned up in the library.

"So what?" The young woman, sitting in front of her maps and measurements, grumbled.

"So you agree if I show it to you?" The captain asked her, remembering his cook's advice.

"If it doesn't damage the ship," The navigator nodded, drawing a line between two points on her map.

"No, I don't think so," He said after a moment.

"Okay but-"

The young woman was cut short in her sentence when the straw hat boy lifted her from her chair. He squeezed her and crashed his lips violently against hers. With his momentum, the young woman's back crashed into a bookcase and she felt a sharp pain going through her spine. Coming to her senses, she pushed him away with all her strength.

"Damn it, Luffy!" She fumed, massaging her aching back. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Well, I'm trying my technique," He sheepishly explained to her.

"Your technique? Where did you learn that?!"

"Zoro and Sanji showed it to me. They told me it was a new fighting technique and it'd only work with you!"

Nami stared at him for a second before rolling her eyes, noticing that Luffy had bitten her lip too. "Those two," She grumbled.

"It's weird," The captain sighed, annoyed, "I don't see how it works..."

"Of course!" She replied, irritated. "This isn't a real fighting technique!"

"Really?! But they told me..."

"They told you that because you probably caught them in an embarrassing situation, Luffy! Use your head for once!"

"An embarrassing situation?" He repeated, stunned.

The navigator sighed. "When you saw them, were they alone?"

"Yes."

"Dressed?"

"Yes."

"Pressed against each other?"

"Yes."

"And they were kissing, weren't they?"

"Yes, it's their new fighting technique!" The captain approved with a broad smile. "You knew it?!"

"You idiot, don't you see they said it was a technique but they were just kissing?" The young woman got impatient.

The captain frowned, lost. "I don't get it."

Nami shook her head in despair before taking a deep breath. "You remember when we kissed?"

"Yes, you were sad because of Nojiko!"

"Exactly," The young woman nodded, "So we weren't fighting, do you agree?"

"You're right, it was rather... I had a stomach ache and then you kissed me and after, it was weird!"

"Here you go. Now you understand why they were kissing? It has nothing to do with a fight or at least, not the one you're thinking about."

"Does that mean Zoro and Sanji have a stomach ache?!" Luffy asked her, flabbergasted.

"I don't know," The navigator admitted, shrugging, "It looks pretty complicated since they continue to fight despite everything so don't refer to them. Usually, lovers are kissing, that's all you need to remember."