Polar Planes [Luffy x Nami]

3. Thinning Frost

"Nami!"

She jolted out of her daydream.

"What has gotten into you?" Vivi said. "You look like you're running on three hours of sleep."

Nami yawned. "That's because I am."

"You're a workaholic. You're gonna die before you turn 30, you know."

"Don't be dramatic. It's been a while since I've slept this little."

Nami had always managed to get her work done and get a good six hours of sleep every day, so now she seriously regretted accepting Garp's offer. She even considered dropping her internship, but that wasn't an option.

"Don't take your health for granted," Vivi warned. "One time I pulled an all-nighter just to bomb my math exam. It's not worth it."

Usopp smirked. "Hm. Can't say I relate."

"You did worse than me on that test."

"What? No, I didn't."

"I'll be fine," Nami insisted.

Vivi stared at her, expecting an explanation. "Alright, just don't make this a regular thing."

It didn't feel right to be slacking in Mr. Newgate's class, but Nami had a feeling she'd have to sacrifice some things. Early morning classes were never her forte, so she'd just have to do some self-studying on her own time.

⤧

Vivi managed to catch Nami after school. Usopp was on her tail.

"Was what Usopp said true?" She asked.

Nami shrugged. "I don't know what he said."

"Hey," Vivi hissed. "Stop being a smartass for once."

Usopp shook his head. "That's impossible for her."

"Usopp, you know that I'm tutoring Luffy?"

"Yeah. I'm on the soccer team."

"So Luffy plays soccer..." Nami didn't expect him to be someone who played soccer; she thought he was more of a track guy.

"But Nami," Usopp began. "Aren't you loaded up with a bunch of work this semester? Tutoring is going to take a lot of time. Especially if you're tutoring that idiot."

"Have you ever seen me turn down a tutoring offer?"

Vivi rolled her eyes. "No, and that's exactly your problem. You're always so busy helping other people that you never have time for yourself. Have you ever tried relaxing? Just a little?"

She just grinned. "Well, I gotta get going."

Usopp and Vivi exchanged hesitant glances but waved her off nevertheless.

Yesterday, she told Luffy to meet at Baratie Burgers from then on instead, as it looked like Luffy learned better with food in his stomach.

She crossed the street and took in the beautiful afternoon. The sky was clear but the air was still and chilly. Icy moisture coated the streets. When she arrived, she spotted him juggling the ball near the entrance. His touches were precise, and his concentration didn't falter even as she approached him. It felt so different from what he was like in front of a paper and pencil.

She stood there for another minute - it didn't feel right to interrupt him. Eventually, he let the ball drop and trapped it under the sole of his tennis shoe.

He picked it up. "Hey."

"You're pretty good at that," she said.

"Eh... Sanji's better at juggling."

"He is?"

"Yeah," he said confidently. "But I'm better at scoring."

At that moment, she had just conversed with a different boy. The boy she had spent three hours with yesterday - the kind, nonchalant, relaxed, and modest one - had temporarily disappeared. Now, he was sure of himself. Now, he was ambitious. Now, she caught a flicker of something unidentifiable. But it appeared in a flash and was snuffed to a wisp.

No one here is capable. Only you can lead. Show them that you're the best and take what's yours.

She smiled at how wrong that statement was.

Luffy ordered another three big meals and sat down. He took off his hoodie and pulled out a piece of paper from his backpack. This time, he made an effort to organize it a bit more.

"Here's my next math test," he said.

"Already?"

"Yeah... I failed again. I guess I couldn't remember everything you told me."

She skimmed through all the questions. "No... this is all new material. How could this be?"

"Huh?"

"Luffy... when did you take the test before this one?"

"Last Friday."

"And when did you take this one?"

"Monday."

"What?!"

"We usually have a test every other day."

"That's insane!" She declared. "Does your teacher actually teach you guys anything in class?"

He shrugged. "He said something about having to teach ourselves outside of school so we can prepare for the tests he gives us."

"You guys can't just... teach yourselves Algebra 2! That's not how it works!"

"You're right." He laughed. "That's why I have you."

"That's not the issue here," she grumbled.

Luffy just stared at her, puzzled.

"Who's your math teacher?"

"Mr. Sakazuki."

She never had him, but she heard enough to know he was the most ruthless of them all. Algebra 2 was supposed to be a relaxed class in comparison to Calculus. The only explanation for his strictness would be that he enjoys leeching off the pain of his students.

She nodded. "Put that test away. Let's go over physics."

"But-"

"Luffy. I'm your tutor. I will get your grades up. But you have to trust me. Okay?"

He exhaled in exasperation. "So are we just going to ignore math?"

"For now, yes."

"Alright."

As she explained the concepts to him, she found it easier to apply them to real-life situations such as soccer. It came more intuitively to him once she changed his perspective in that manner. And luckily, they were able to finish earlier that day.

However, she had to go home mustering enough courage for tomorrow, and she began to realize that this was taxing a lot more of her energy than she would have liked. She knew Vivi was right when she said that she took tutoring too seriously. To Nami, tutoring was just like any other academic task, and the last thing she could do was fail.