His Fault | Monster Trio

5

Changing into yet another set of clean clothes, Luffy shuttered, constantly jumping out of fear that started to settle in the pit of his stomach, the closer he was to seeing his crewmates.

The first member he unknowingly bumped into happened to be Robin.

Her eyes squinted as she smiled, helping the younger boy relax.

"Good Morning, Luffy. You two are up early." She sweetly spoke, picking up a dumpling in between her set of wooden chopsticks.

"Good Morning!! H-hi!" Luffy nervously smiled, acting as normal as he possibly could while Zoro opened the chair behind him so that he could take a seat beside him.

The boy stared down at it for a moment, contemplating on whether or not he would be able to actually sit, judging by the unfortunate experience he had this morning in the bathroom.

"G'morning, Rrruffy!!" Franky playfully greeted the Captain, wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

As his backside was unintentionally squeezed into a hug, the pain on Luffy's lower back worsened, causing him to yelp and develop irregular heart palpitations.

"Hmm?" Franky raised an eyebrow at him.

"You okay, buddy?" He asked before the sound of a fork colliding against the hardwood floor beside him echoed throughout the dining room.

Zoro then purposefully bend over in front of him and Luffy, picking the fork back up to help the younger by creating a distraction for Franky so that he wouldn't grow suspicious.

"He's just hungry, don't worry." The Swordsman assured in a nonchalant manner.

"Really hungry!" Luffy insisted, proving Zoro's statement to be true.

"I'll be out with your food in a minute, Luffy!"

The dishes placed neatly on top of their table clashed with each other when the Captain nervously banged his knee beneath it after hearing a familiar voice echo from nearby.

His stomach started churning with insecurity as he felt all eyes were now on him.

"By the way, Luffy!" Usopp spoke up. "You really should throw away your wrappers and bags after you eat something." The Sniper scolded his best friend, munching on his crunchy toasted bread.

"Wrappers? What wrappers are you-" Thoughts infiltrated the Captain's mind, revealing scattered parts of his memories from last night.

Within that vision, he saw a tall, blonde haired man holding onto a bag of potato chips.

"I agree with Usopp, Luffy. There were crumbs everywhere on the floor. You're so messy." Nami's voice snapped the younger out of his trance while he shook his head at her.

Zoro was about to take the blame, seeing how lost in thought and anxious the Captain appeared, but before he could speak, Luffy raised his voice.

"Sorry guys, it won't happen again." Earning a sigh from the others around him, the young man was relieved after successfully fooling his friends.

Seconds later, a romantic Cook rushed out of his kitchen workspace, bringing a tray of delicious smelling food towards his Captain.

"Sorry for the wait, I ran out of your favorite mango juice and had to improvise. You like strawberry milk, right?" He questioned, serving his food to the young boy who was growing numb to his aching feet.

"Thank you."

"Would you like anything else? Or is this alright." The Cook asked, placing a colorful red straw into Luffy's beverage.

"Thank you!" Was all that the Captain repeatedly said in response, earning a shrug from the other in return.

"Enjoy your meal, Luffy." He casually replied, placing his hands inside of his white apron.

"I'll be back with yours soon, Moss." The man proceeded to say before walking out of the dining room.

"Yo, you feel alright, Luffy?" Franky questioned, waving his hand in front of the younger.

The numbness running throughout Luffy's face made his lips tingle and lead him to stand up from the chair after a sharp pain struck another part of his body.

Zoro and everyone else stared at the boy with confusion, wondering where he was headed.

"I lost my hat in the dark last night. I don't remember where I put it." The Captain confessed, patting his head.

"Can you help me find it? It should be somewhere around our room." He told his first mate who was puzzled by the younger man's words, knowing that his hat was resting on top of their bedside table.

Nonetheless, he decided not to opinionate anything and followed the darker haired teen, covering his limp by walking behind him so that no one would notice how crooked and imbalanced his steps were.

"Luffy would never abandon his food, even if he lost his straw hat... Something's wrong."

~~~