Polar Planes [Luffy x Nami]

14. Warm Rain

"Oi."

The proximity of Haredas's voice almost startled Nami out of her seat.

"Yes?" she asked, attempting to suppress her mild irritation.

"You've been spaced out for a long time," he said.

Nami appreciated her mentor, Mr. Haredas, at Weatheria Labs for teaching her all the fascinating things about meteorology, despite his colleagues being unable to take her seriously as a high school junior. Her main tasks were fetching coffee and doing mundane assignments, but at least it paid part of the bills.

Mr. Haredas was kind enough to teach her more of the interesting things they were doing, but sometimes the old man got too worried about her too often.

"Is that so?"

He nodded. "You're done for the day. In fact, you've been done for 30 minutes. You can go home now."

She set down the pile of paperwork stacked on her temporary desk that she wasn't even working on. Her mind was still trailing a day behind, fixated on Friday's game.

The result wasn't bad - they ended with a 1-1 tie and no one else got severely injured. It was the unsettling nature of the atmosphere that felt so tight and rigid that she just couldn't relax.

After the game had ended, Nami wanted to come up to Luffy and talk to him, but she wasn't sure of what to say at all. Perhaps anything she said would piss him off even more. She had to remind herself that just as Luffy didn't understand her mindset and values, she didn't understand his either.

What had alarmed her the most that day was when the team headed off the field. Hancock and the rest of the girls' team had finished practice and had just seen the last few minutes.

"Luffy!" she had called, running up to him.

Nami had been sure that he knew she was right there. But he had ignored her, completely tied in a web of his own thoughts. She had sworn she even saw steam coming from his head.

Even though she was usually persistent, Hancock hadn't tried to pursue him anymore. She just stopped there, her body still with vexed shock.

If Nami had been the one to come up to him, she would have had to experience the same thing.

She and Hancock had their differences, but she wouldn't wish for Hancock to ever be ignored like that. She knew Luffy had his reasons - it must have been a terrible day for him - but it still caught her off guard for him to act like that.

"You're doing it again," Haredas stated matter-of-factly. "Spacing out."

"Yeah, yeah."

She looked out the window and could barely make anything out with the white fog rolling over the city and the rain pattering against the glass.

The bus is going to be packed today.

She sighed. "I don't suppose the rain will leave any time soon, huh?"

He shook his head. "Forecast says it'll go on until the next morning."

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she got up and took a breath of courage before exiting. She opened her umbrella and began her trip to the nearest bus stop.

The air was surprisingly warm and humid, and Nami had to thank the spring rain for being at least a little more forgiving than the winter's. Streams of water ran along the crevices near the sidewalks; cars tossed up water splashes as they turned around the intersections.

She could already feel her socks getting wet the more she walked. Nami always talked about being a lover for rainy days, that is, until she had to deal with tossing all her clothes in the laundry after wringing them out for 20 minutes.