The night wind blew through the cracks in the window sill on the second floor, and the drawing in Luffy's hand flew, of course, into Nami's grasp.
Nami had always believed Luffy was a rubber blockhead. He might have unwavering convictions in his mind—she had no doubt about that.
But he was absolutely clueless when it came to romance.
For instance, after a dream one day, he loudly declared that his future crewmates would include a talking reindeer and a skeleton that went "yohohoho". This sea had everything, as long as you had enough imagination, these things were possible.
Nami thought his mind should be filled only with things like meat and "I'm gonna be the Pirate King".
That was the real Luffy.
But what was going on now?
Nami looked at the exquisitely drawn portrait of herself on the white paper. The answer to what Luffy had been sighing about earlier was now obvious.
Wait, that wasn't the most important thing. The important thing was...
"Are you a pervert?!"
"This is too indecent!"
"Why didn't you draw any clothes on me?!"
Nami's face instantly flushed bright red, especially when she saw the anatomical diagram of himself that Luffy had drawn on the back of the paper. The two images together made it hard not to think of... other scenes.
And... he drew it so realistically!
Anyone who didn't know better would think she had been acting as some kind of life model for Luffy.
Did he really have a photographic memory?
Nami remembered Luffy scanning her with his eyes not long ago.
She couldn't help but suspect; the guy even remembered the mole there! One coincidence was a coincidence, but with multiple coincidences linked together, Nami didn't know what excuse to find.
Luffy: "..."
Could he explain that it was an accident?
He had really just casually drawn what he found beautiful in his mind. Couldn't he see the Going Merry was there too? The only flaw was that when he casually drew his own anatomical diagram for analysis, since he had to draw muscles, blood vessels, and organs, he naturally didn't draw clothes. It was just force of habit, right?
After drawing it, Luffy also felt it was somewhat inappropriate and was just about to draw clothes on Nami when that damn wind came.
[Warning, warning...]
The familiar sound instantly pulled Luffy back to reality. His eyes went dead-fish like. This sound was really irritating; it felt like some kind of yodeler was whispering it in his ear.
"Because I didn't know what clothes to draw." Luffy pulled a random excuse out of thin air.
Anyway, judging by Nami's expression, she wouldn't believe anything he said.
Might as well just give up.
If I can't slack off on that godforsaken Plan, can't I at least slack off with Nami?
Hmph, you still have to pick the soft persimmon to pinch!
"Then look properly now!"
Nami stood with her hands on her hips, like a bristling kitten.
The girl still carried the steam from her recent bath, her hair half-dry and half-damp. A rosy blush adorned her bright face. For a moment, Luffy was dazed, realizing that some things couldn't be captured in their most beautiful state by either images or words.
No wonder Nojiko said Nami had good fashion sense.
Nami was wearing a white short t-shirt, revealing snow-white arms as pure and flawless as first snow. Her thighs under the pleated skirt stood straight. And, for some reason, she seemed to have taken his previous comment about watching her feet to heart, as she was wearing black tights that completely covered her ankles, her straight calves looking firm without a trace of excess fat.
"Hey, satisfied?"
Nami recovered from her flustered state, suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed. Her gaze drifted elsewhere, her eyes moist.
"Ah, what?"
Luffy snapped back to reality. "Sorry, I was thinking about something else."
This sentence caused Nami's expression to instantly change. Then Luffy saw Nami cross her arms and stare at him with a look he completely couldn't decipher.
Yikes... Not sure if it's an illusion, but it feels a bit cold all of a sudden.
"Nami, that..."
"I'm curious what else you could be thinking about right now."
"Like... drawing different clothes?" Luffy looked at Nami. "And why this outfit? You decided this on your own. Shouldn't my request be about what I want to see?"
Since when did he get so clever?
Nami was momentarily speechless. Had she entered a strange loop? Why had things developed into this situation? Initially, she just wanted to use up one of the promises Luffy held.
The one in the right could afford to be pushy. Nami was suddenly pulled down from her high horse by Luffy and became somewhat meek.
"W-what do you want to see?"
"Didn't Nojiko say there was a maid outfit?" Mainly, Luffy didn't know the names of any other types of clothing.
"You really are a pervert?!" Nami rushed over in anger, pulling on Luffy's cheeks.
"You said you couldn't refuse."
"I..." Now she had lifted a rock only to drop it on her own foot. Nami's voice grew small. "Can we change it to something else?"
"Can't you just not..."
The incessant "warning, warning" in his ears was driving Luffy crazy. What's the big deal if I look? After working so hard today, can't I just relax and enjoy myself a bit?
His tone hardened slightly. Before he could even finish speaking, Luffy inwardly cursed. Sure enough, looking up, he saw Nami had already let go of his face. Her cheeks were deeply flushed, and she hugged her chest, shooting him a somewhat wronged glance, her eyes misty.
"No need to be so... harsh..."
That expression was way too foul!
That's not what I meant to say.
The words reached his lips, but Luffy swallowed them back down, feeling an inexplicable sense of anticipation.
No, this is all because of that a mess of noise and the punishments opened some new world's door for him. Before, Luffy wouldn't have cared at all!
Nami went to rummage for the clothes.
Luffy glanced at the time. Actually, today's time was almost up. Anyway, it would all be made up tomorrow, so he withdrew from his previous state of intense focus.
"Is the luggage packed?"
"Nojiko helped me pack. There wasn't much to bring, really. But the villagers said they wanted to thank us and gave us a lot of things."
The various supplies needed for voyage were sponsored collectively by Cocoyasi Village and the surrounding villages. Sometimes that was even more useful than money, especially with a big eater like Luffy on their ship.
Speaking of which, Nami remembered something.
"Luffy, about the money the Arlong Pirates extorted... could we leave some for the villagers of Cocoyasi...?"
"They really need that money."
"If necessary, I'm willing to do anything."
"Willing to do anything?" A puzzled expression appeared on Luffy's face.
Nami instantly understood the ambiguity in her words and flusteredly said, "N-no, not what you're thinking! I mean..."
"I know, I know. So that means I now have two promises that you can't refuse, right?"
No, that's not it.
Aaaah! Why is the current Luffy nothing like the easy-to-fool one I first met?
Nami felt like crying but had no tears. Right now, she missed the Luffy from their first meeting.
She was simply fuming. And to top it off, she couldn't find what she was looking for. Nojiko was right; Nami loved buying pretty clothes and hoarding them. Outfits like maid uniforms were things she wore just for herself to see. Her fashion sense was absolutely impeccable.
"Wait here."
Nami hurriedly left the room to find Nojiko. Where had that maid outfit gone? Nojiko was the only one who could enter her room. Luffy yawned. Another exhausting day, but with the bad news that tomorrow would likely be even more exhausting.
The [Pirate King Training Plan] even had time compensation. Luffy was furious but helpless.
It was like in some games, where a steel-plated champion is relentlessly attacking your nexus, and the helpless player can only watch the base explode.
Just submit.
Luffy refused to believe that out of twenty-four hours in a day, it could dig out twenty-five.
He stood up and stretched, maintaining the gaps between the "warning, warning" sounds, meticulously scrounging for bits of free time.
It was all about being rebellious.
The sun would rise as usual tomorrow. At worst, it would just be another twenty-three hours of work. Could it possibly erase his sleep time?
Nami's room had a bookshelf, surrounded by nautical charts. Honestly, having gained a bit of knowledge himself now, he could only feel amazed. Looking at the dates, it seemed she had started drawing them when she was just a few years old.
It really proved that saying.
If you are not in this profession, you see me as a frog in a well gazing at the moon in the sky; if you enter this profession, you see me as a tiny mayfly looking up at the vast blue heavens.
What was Luffy doing when he was a few years old?
Hmm... training with Ace and the others, probably.
Thinking about it now, he still missed those times. He wondered when they would meet again.
Relaxing made him sleepy. It was almost midnight, a new day was about to begin. Finally, he could sleep.
For a moment, Luffy felt the warning sounds in his head had become a lullaby.
"Luffy? Wake up, wake up." Nami's voice held a note of complaint. Then, his body was dragged. "This is my room, you know... At least take the floor. Otherwise, why did I even bring you in here?"
[Warning, warning...]
"Sorry."
Luffy jolted awake and quickly sat up, only to see Nami wearing the maid outfit.
"One promise fulfilled! Are you satisfied now?!" Nami said with a displeased look, her left hand resting on her right arm, her head slightly tilted. Noticing Luffy's gaze, she shot back a fierce, menacing glare, staring at him as if he were trash.
But her bright red face really held no intimidation; if anything, it looked like a reward for a pervert.
***
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