COAST - Luffy x Reader

68. Family Matters

Time to meet the family, folks.

Let's jump right into it!

Happy reading <333

—

SMASH!!

Lurching from the bed, the cold splash of fear wakes me out of dead sleep.

Unfamiliar with the surroundings, drowsy eyes vaguely search the room for a source – frantic, heart beating wildly in my throat. That was loud.

My next breath is bitter, and gritty. I cough, rips panging sharply, wheezing and gagging on the smoke of destruction. It's pouring endlessly through the new hole in the wall–

A pulse of agony rips through my torso, delayed so that I curl my arms around too late. Murky in my ears is the muted sound of Nami shrieking, then Franky's choking, topped off by Chopper's wailing confusion. Scarier yet, I don't hear Sanji, or Zoro, or Luffy.

Flying back to relieve the strain from my stitches, breath catches at another pinch in my ribs. "Sh-Shit–" I can't breathe.

"So, you guys are the Straw Hats?" A voice rumbles around the space like a boulder – and by the lilt in his voice alone, you did not want to get in his path. "You see, I've got some friends here that'd like to share a word with Monkey D. Luffy."

The massive stature of a man eerily parts the clouds. Each step warrants the short flop of what appears be dog ears. A dog man? Like the fishmen? Through blurry vision, there's patches of gray amongst the brown and tan. His head is tilted.

"Marine!" A glimpse of blond and blue. Sanji and Franky have jumped closer to one another, shoulders broadened in defense. They're shielding something.

I fear I may have a heart attack when I hear the word – and once I've turned to look at what the two are guarding, I realize it's not a what, but a who – a tan figure with his nose in the air, slack-jawed and sitting at the table.

Luffy.

I need to catch up to the plot– Because didn't that marine just say Luffy's name, too? Wake up.

My soulmate snores louder, somehow. The old man grins beneath his hat. "Geez! He's as hopeless as ever, dumb kid... Never learns."

Then, he's gone. Completely vanished–

"Rise and shine!"

WHACK!!

An explosion of pain over the top of my skull. It's as if a bundle of bowling balls had suddenly cracked my head open. With a cry, my hands fly to keep the pieces together, where the throbbing in my side returns and I can't breathe.

Throat clenched in the beginnings of a gasp, I only faintly register the clopping footfalls racing toward my bunk, "(Y-Y/n)?! What's wrong– What happened?!"

Stifled by the aftershocks of impact, Luffy's groan draws long. Gritted teeth refuse to let loose his agony right away, writhing on the floor with hands in the same position as mine. "O-Ow! That hurt!"

"'That hurt'? What are you saying? How could one little punch hurt you so much– You're made of rubber!" Daunted by the marine standing over his captain with that same, maniacal grin, Sanji's panicking in his own right. He's looking for options that aren't available.

I can't untense my jaw to answer even one of Chopper's frantic, endless questions. This had been a terrible waking-up experience.

"It's because there's no defence against a fist of love!" A shuffle, which I can't discern. "Looks like you've gone on quite a rampage, huh, Luffy?"