In Another Reality

Misaki: part 8 (Should've)

"Pssst. Hey. You awake?"

I opened my eyes to see Luffy, nose to nose with me. I reeled back in surprise, almost falling off the Sunny's figurehead. Luffy caught me, however, pressing me to his chest and laughing.

"Don't fall, dummy!"

"You scared me!"

"I can see that!" He chuckled. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to steal some food before breakfast."

I pulled my head away from him and grinned. "You know it!"

Luffy stood up, still holding onto me, and jumped onto the helm. I felt like my stomach had travelled up from the force of coming down. I was about to move away from him to walk down the stairs when he snatched me up again, leaping down to the main deck. I buried my face in his neck, muffling my squeal as my stomach flipped. By the time we landed, Luffy was chuckling at me.

"You're so funny." He chuckled, grinning ear to ear as he put me down.

"You just caught me off guard!" I laughed. When I looked at him, I noticed a tinge of pink at the tips of his ears as he laughed. Was he blushing?

"Come on, M'! Let's eat!"
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Once they snuck into the kitchen, Misaki sat on the counter while Luffy rummaged through the pantry — the only thing without a lock. He came out with some jerky and offered a bite to Misaki, who made a face. Hm... so no to jerky. He stuck his head back in the pantry and pulled out some peanut butter.

   "Any bread?" She said.

   "Ummm...." He looked back inside. "Rolls.... And crackers."

    "Hmmm, I'll do some crackers." She said, peeling a banana.

   "Whatcha gonna do with the banana?"

   "I'm gonna slice it. Peanut butter and banana crackers!" She said, licking her lips.

   "Ooohhhh, that sounds yummy!" Luffy said, grinning at her.

   She hopped off the counter and made a bunch of crackers, each with one slice of banana and a dollop of peanut butter on top. Luffy looked at it with envy, wondering if she was going to offer him some. She grinned and held one up to his mouth. Luffy snickered and snatched the cracker with his mouth, humming happily as he chewed.

   "Thanks M'! It really is yummy!" He said, making Misaki giggle. She hoisted herself back onto the counter and kicked her feet gently as she popped a cracker into her mouth. Luffy couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked, sitting there like that. Absentmindedly, he found himself picking up a cracker and bringing it to her mouth, leaning into her with his hand on her thigh. She blushed, giggling a little as she took a bite of the cracker.

Luffy noticed some of the peanut butter got left behind on the tip of her nose, so he swiped it off with his finger and licked it.

"You're so cute." He chuckled. Misaki froze, her eyes darting around as she looked at him. Wait. Did I just... say that out loud?

Suddenly, Luffy realized the compromising position he was in. With his one hand on her thigh and his other hand now resting on the counter on her other side, he realized just how close their faces were. So close that all he had to do was lean in and.... Wait a minute! I really said that OUT LOUD!!!!

"I— I meant cute! I mean funny! I meant funny! You're silly! Not cute!!!" He stuttered, full on panicking.

"Ok... so what I'm getting is that I'm not cute?" She said, a little sadly as her shoulders slumped. DAMN IT!