The New Boy (LuNa)

shared pain

Nami woke up at 5:45 having forgotten to turn her school alarm off. she had decided, for some strange reason, to take the advice of the boy she had only known for about 40 hours and take a day off school. she truly felt like she needed it.

as she moodily turned off her blaring alarm, a notification caught her eye. a missed call from 10:48 the previous night. unknown number. nami pondered whether of not to return the call.

in the end, her curiosity won out and she dialed the number. the picked up after three tones and she was met with a familiar voice.

'morning nami! you're up early.' his voice was cheery as usual, but she couldn't help but feel as though something was wrong.

'yeah. i am staying home today, i just forgot to turn my alarm off.'

'i'm glad. trust me it helps.'

'right.... hey why did you call?'

'oh, well about that... it was nothing really i was just curious to see whether you were staying home.'

'you sure thats it? theres nothing else bothering you?'

'yeah... hey, umm, im at home as well today. would you mind if i called in to say hello?'

'course, that would be great.'

an audible sigh of relief could be heard from the other side of the line.

'thank you. i'll be there around 7.'

before she could respond, he hung up. she stared blankly at the phone. she knew something was bothering the boy. that much was obvious. but what confused her was why he wanted to see her.

not that she didn't want him too. quite the opposite actually. she had confessed more to him than she had her closest friends, and she hardly knew him. plus, she was in massive debt to him for saving her ass on more than one occasion.

nothing would make her happier than to be able to return the favour and be of some kind of condolence to him. trust worked best if it went both ways.

luffy packed up his things. he would have to be at the bus stop in the next 30 minutes. after dragging his tired ass off his seat, he walked up to the front desk. the lady looked up at him.

'morning mr. monkey.' she said. 'can i help you?'

'i'm leaving, please let me say good bye to my brother.'

'im afraid i cant do that darling.'

luffy's hopeful gaze melted, bringing the receptionists heart with it.

'oh.' he said, face going blank. 'well, in that case, i'll see you later. and remember...'

'yes, yes dear, i'll let you know if anything happens.'

'thank you.'

'thats alright dear. now you best be on your way. its almost 6:15.'

luffy nodded, turning and running out of the building. sharron, the office lady, watched him go, a sad smile tugging on her lips. such a kind boy with such a horrible life. it really wasn't fair.

nami stepped out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam following her, and got dressed. she tidied up a bit before heading downstairs to make herself some breackfast.

her thoughts were starting to bug her. she had a strange feeling that something bad was happening to luffy. suddenly, her mind recalled the ambulance she had seen hurtling down the street. the very ambulance that had woken her up. why, just why did she feel like it was so relevant.

at least she knew he was ok, physically. he had called her, after all, and must have been let out of the hospital. she rinsed her now empty bowl before glancing up at the clock. 6:45, it read.

luffy made it to the bus stop right in time to catch the 6:30 bus, where he was currently seated. he would get to nami's right on time. he sat curled against the window with his hooded head resting on his arm.

stupid ace for going and getting sick like that. stupid him for not being able to do anything about it. tears prickled in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. he had no right to cry. some people had it much worse.

the bus came to a stop and luffy stepped out, stretching. his hood slipped off his head, and he let it. all that remained was his straw hat, which he pulled from his head as he walked, unconsciously running his fingers over it.

at 6:56, luffy arrived at nami's front door. he took a minute to compose himself before knocking on the door. as it opened, he plastered on a smile. he had gotten good at that.

the door opened to reveal a familiar mop of ginger hair. her comforting presence almost broke him. he felt his smile falter, but hurriedly fixed it. and then, all of a sudden, she leaned in and hugged him.

luffy's breath caught as he felt her arms wrap around his waste. at first, he was too shocked to respond, but when she didn't let go, he gently leaned into her, placing one hand on the small of her back and pulling her closer while the other rested at the base of her neck.

it felt as though a thousand tons had been lifted from his shoulders. he took a shaky breath, one that felt like his first in a long time. if he wasn't careful, he would break down.

she lifted her head and gazed up at him, and he offered a gentle smile. she frowned.

'there's no need to put on an act for me, luffy. tell me what happened.'

luffy's eyes widened in shock. how did she... he sighed, resigned, and let his smile fall.

'could we sit down? he asked, his gaze downcast. she nodded, stepping aside to let her in. he slipped his shoes off and followed her, sitting down on the couch. she sat facing him.

'so, tell me what happened.' she prompted. luffy couldn't meet her gaze.

'its not much really.' he said, trying to play down his worry. 'my brother is just suck.' she wasn't having it.

'a cold? a fever how sick is he?'

'well... I u-um.... they don't know.' he said, his eyes starting to burn with the beginnings of tears.

'who's they?' nami asked, not noticing the boys distress.

'the doctors.'

'so he's in hospital?'

'mhm.'

'how long has he been there?' the tears started to fall. he kept his head pressed into his knees and refused to look up, fighting to keep his voice from breaking.

'since i called the ambulance after finding him half dead on the bathroom floor.' Luffy muttered in a small, pained voice. he had finally broken. the tears were now streaming down his face and he was shaking uncontrollably. nami emitted a small gasp, taken a back.

'luffy, i'm so sorry... i had no idea...' she said, crawling closer.

'n-no i'm s-sorry for snapping like that.' he sniffed. when her hand landed gently on his shoulder, he jumped, his tear filled eyes lifted to meet her own gorgeous brown ones, filled with concern and worry.

what remained of the walls he had built around himself crumbled like sand under her watchful gaze, and he lurched forwards, catching the red haired girl by surprise. she fell back onto the couch, bringing him with her, and gasped as luffy curled into her side and buried his head in her neck.

as she turned to wrap him in a hug, a question bubbled up in her throat.

'luffy?' she whispered.

'hmm?'

'tell me about your family.'