Polar Planes [Luffy x Nami]

5. Tempest

The bell rang for lunch. Nami hated having Calculus in 4th period; she was always hungry and couldn't concentrate. She quickly packed up her things and left in a hurry, but couldn't leave early enough.

The hall was already flooded with people scrambling to get out for food. From the corner of her eye, she could see Mr. Sakazuki pushing his way through the students.

Oh shit, she realized. He's coming to me.

She ducked her head low and tried to squeeze through, but it was futile. He grabbed her arm and didn't let go.

"You reported me, didn't you?" he grumbled.

Frantically, she looked around, but it didn't seem like anyone noticed anything.

"Answer me," he demanded.

If she tried to lie, it would only make things worse. "Fine, I did. But it's not like you're going to get fired for it."

"We're going to go to the office, and we're going to get things sorted out."

Nami was disgusted. How could a man like this ever be a teacher?

Suddenly, another hand gripped Mr. Sakazuki's arm. She looked up to see Luffy, his piercing glare fixated on his math teacher.

"Let her go," he said in a low, barely audible voice.

Even she felt a little intimidated by his animosity-filled presence. For a moment, they lingered in silence, frozen in place. The hallway had even cleared up.

Either way, this would not turn out well. Luffy couldn't afford another drop in his grades. Nami wondered which one of them would take the biggest blame.

"Go to lunch, brat," Mr. Sakazuki spat. "You don't understand what's going on."

She could see Luffy's grip tighten so much that the veins on his hand began popping out.

He clenched his jaw. "It doesn't matter what I understand. Nami's my tutor, so you better let her go. It's as simple as that."

"Are you threatening me?"

Luffy was ready to bite back with a response but was cut off by Mrs. Tsuru.

"What are you guys doing?!" she yelled. "Take your hands off of each other!"

Both of them flinched. Mr. Sakazuki was the first to let go of Nami's arm. Luffy reluctantly released it next. When he turned to Nami, there was still a strong residue of boiling anger in his eyes, but he quickly realized he was looking at her and his gaze softened.

⤩

Nami couldn't stop fidgeting with her fingers. It didn't help that they had to wait agonizingly long. The main office looked busy as usual today; it was no surprise - something happened every day at Grand Line High School.

Luffy was the first to break the silence. "Nami... are you okay?"

"It didn't hurt much at all. I just felt a little uncomfortable, that's all." She inspected her wrist. "By the way, how did you catch us in the hallway?"

"I have 4th period with Mr. Sakazuki."

To think they'd been learning math right across from each other every day, but only recently did Nami know who Luffy was. She'd always been so socially absent-minded that the only faces she knew at Grand Line were Vivi, Usopp, and a few others.

"Anyway, if it weren't for Mrs. Tsuru, I would have thrown the first punch," he then added too loudly.

She shushed him dramatically. Then a smile crept up her lips. Without warning, a chuckle escaped from her. After realizing how she was acting, she snapped herself out of it. Why was she laughing in a situation like this?