CH 12
"I can't believe it!" Vivi was raging.
Nami had to admit, that it was surprising to her to see her friend this upset.
"He really does not want me to meet Pell alone! And he doesn't listen when I tell him, again and again, that for one he is like a brother to me, and second, that he is probably gay as hell. The only relationship he has ever had was to Chaka! I told you the story with Igaram, didn't I?" she turned to Nami, who was sitting on the couch and watching her friend walk up and down in the living room, gesticulating wildly.
"Yeah, the evening you met Ace." the ginger confirmed.
"Oh god! But do you know, what the worst part is? He acts as if it was completely fine even if he goes out with thousands of girls, like Haruta, and that's fine even if they are all alone at her house!" Vivi huffed.
"As long as I know, Haruta is non-binary." Nami remarked. "They are one of Marco's siblings. And as far as I know, taken since a few years."
"Really?" Vivi looked at her, eyes wide. "So you are telling me, I am overreacting?" she let herself fall, sitting down on the spot.
"No, I am not." Nami sighed. "I am telling you, to rethink everything. It bothers you a lot. You should talk to Ace and maybe ask him about why he feels so insecure. I believe, talking to him this way will have more effect than trying to convince him that there is nothing to worry about. He probably has some self-confidence and self-love issues. I don't know. And if he doesn't want to talk, consult Sabo on that matter. I believe he may be able to help."
"I might do that." Vivi considered. "But I won't take that any longer. I am going to meet my male friends, no matter what he says! I am not going to allow a guy to control my life!" she said with determination.
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Once again, Nami asked herself why she had agreed on doing something. When Perona called to ask her if she was interested in a double date, she didn't want to agree at first, but the other girl had convinced her to come along. She said something along the lines that one could never know how such a blind date would go.
So there she was, getting dressed and putting on make-up in the hope that she wouldn't hate herself for agreeing to get along.
It was a chance to meet somebody new and since she had decided to avoid clubs for the time being after the incident with Absalom, it was probably one of the few she was going to get in the near future.
"Hey." She greeted Perona, who had already been waiting at their assigned meeting place. "Already nervous?"
"I am!" the pink-haired woman blurred out. "I am really looking forward to it!"
Nami chuckled. Even if Perona was older than her, she often acted like a child, or rather a spoiled princess. Most of the time it was cute, like now, but Zoro had told her that it could become a nightmare at times, like the one time she had tried to dress him up as a bear.
"Sorry for being late!" Conis called out as she approached, walking a little shaky on her high hells.
"Don't worry, you aren't late." Nami assured her, aware that she had arrived ten minutes earlier herself and it was impossible that so much time had already passed.
Perona stepped forward. "I'm Perona and this is Nami." she introduced the two of them to Coni's friend.
"Laki. Pleased to meet you." The woman replied with a smile.
She was tall and had long ebony hair and lanky limbs. Nami was sure she was a model or something.
After suggesting different places, the four women agreed on an Italian place Nami had visited once before. They had the best pizza in town and everybody knew that.
The supposed dates took place across each other so it was easier to talk, while Nami sat next to Perona and Conis next to Laki.
The talking went smooth and the ginger had a lot of fun, even though both her and Laki agreed that they weren't exactly each others type.
At one point, Nami asked Laki if she was a model, causing the girl to laugh. She was working as a martial arts instructor while going to college and considered applying to join the army after finishing her studies.
A huge discussion broke out between the two and they decided that it wouldn't be too bad to meet from time to time for such talks.
In the meanwhile, Perona and Conis ignored those two and Nami even dared to suggest a bet of when the first kiss falls. She was sure it would be that evening. Laki had refused as she never made bets.
Even before dessert, it was clear that Nami would have won, as both girls suddenly leaned over the table, causing the discussion to stop.
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"Can we talk?" Vivi opened the door to Nami's room.
"Sure?" the ginger looked up from the papers she was grading. It was the part she hated most about being a teacher: all the work she had to do at home, worse than any kind of homework could be.
"It's about Ace." the bluenette confessed, but Nami couldn't say that she was surprised at all. She had even expected such a talk.
"I have done as you have told me and talked both to him and to Sabo." the bluenette was still standing in the door.
"Come in and sit down or something." Nami shook her head. "And tell me everything."
"Ace himself didn't want to talk about it at all." Vivi sighed, still not moving. "All he admitted, is that he knows that he has a problem. When I suggested he should do something about it, he didn't want to and the talk basically ended there."
"That's strange, like really really strange." Nami muttered. "Did Sabo tell you why he acts like that?"
Vivi nodded. "He brought some light into that matter, even though he tried to not say much. You know about the guys being adopted and Luffy being the only one who is related to Garp?"
After a short affirmation on Nami's side, the bluenette continued. "Well, it seems that Ace's biological father, who passed away even before his birth, is the reason why he has hated himself since he was very young because everybody who knew about it detested him because of his heritage or something."
Nami stared at her friend blankly. "That's plain stupid!" she called out. "And who the fuck was his father that the people hated him that much?"
"I have no idea. Sabo didn't want to tell. He told me so much just so I can decide if I'm ready to cope with Ace's behavior or not. It was fair that I know at least something in his opinion." Vivi fell silent again.
"What are you going to do about it?" Nami asked after a while of watching her friend. "Now that you have a fair idea what might be going on."
"I don't know. I really don't know." Vivi whispered.
"Okay. Listen: take your time, think about it. You have a break from university now anyway so take your time and we will meet on Friday evening in the Rip Off Bar and talk about it, when you had time to sort it out in your head, okay?" Nami suggested.
"Alright. Thank you. And have fun with grading these." Vivi stood up, obviously in thoughts.
"Good Night." Nami called after her, when the bluenette left the room, and returned to the papers still lying in front of her.
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Nami rang the bell on Penguin's house. She had prepared some different tests he would take, allowing her to determine how bad he exactly was and how well he could tell where his weak points were, or the strong ones for that matter.
Killer had given her the list the boy had put together earlier and it had been quite messy.
"Nami?" Laki had opened the door and was now looking at the ginger in surprise.
"I am looking for a boy called Penguin." the ginger said. "I am pretty sure this was the house where he lived but if not, I'm sorry-"
"Are you his tutor?" Laki's face lit up. "He has told me that somebody is coming over today! I didn't know it was you!"
"Well, he couldn't know that we know each other." Nami replied, a bit confused.
"Ah yes, he is my younger brother." Lake explained after seeing the ginger's expression. "Do you know where his room is?"
Nami assured her that she did and made her way upstairs. It was a weird coincidence, but she felt herself lucky that she had met a friend and not somebody else. By now, she believed anything to be possible.
"Here you go." Nami gave Penguin the stuff she had prepared after a short greeting. "You should solve these now, as you are still somehow motivated. It will be everything we do today, as I need to determine where exactly I need to pick up. Without proper basics, you can't do higher math." she smiled at him.
"Are you Killer's girlfriend?" the boy blurred out, before even looking at the papers.
"No, I am not." Nami replied with amusement. "Why are you asking?"
"Do you think he might like Laki?" he asked hopefully. "I believe they are both lonely. Since Wiper, he was Laki's boyfriend, died in car accident, she has been alone. And in my opinion they would be perfect for each other!"
"Maybe you should introduce them." Nami tried not to laugh at that thought. She had hit on both and they have become her friends, and now, somebody who knew them both as well wanted to set them up. What a funny world.
"And now solve the math problems and I might even help you get Shachi!" she joked, making Penguin turn red again, but he didn't say a word and got to work.
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"Robin?" Nami looked at her friend who was standing at the window, looking out of it. "Is everything alright?"
The raven turned around, smiling. "It is. It's just that I don't want to imagine Spandam's reaction when I tell him I am pregnant."
"That doesn't sound like you." Nami commented with concern. "You usually don't fear that cocky bastard."
"I am pregnant, Nami." the older woman repeated. "And I have to announce that during today's teacher conference."
"What's wrong with that?" the ginger asked.
"He is waiting to get rid of me for ages." Robin shook her head. "And I believe he will try to do anything possible to do it right now. He won't get a chance like this again anytime soon. And I really don't want to be a housewife. I know that I will enjoy taking care of my child, but I know that I live for the knowledge and sharing it. I don't want Spandam to take it away from me."
The raven's confession saddened Nami.
"I will make sure that you don't lose this job." the ginger spoke up, a fire raging inside of her. "I won't allow that bastard to take that away from you! And now cheer up! I believe it isn't good for the baby when the mother is in such bad mood."
Robin smiled weakly and followed Nami to the meeting room, where half of the teachers were already waiting, most of them looking rather bored and annoyed as it was Friday afternoon.
Some of them looked as if they were about to strangle Spandam on the spot when he entered to start the meeting.
Nami didn't listen at all, sure that there would be a paper hanging in the teachers' room on Monday anyway. She was waiting for Robin to announce her good news, praying for support from the other colleagues.
When the point finally came, everybody was incredibly supportive, congratulating Robin and wishing her just the best.
Even before Spandam could open his mouth, one of the older female teachers, Tsuru, announced that she would help Robin sort out any legal problems concerning her work as she had enough experience being the mother of three, causing Spandam effectively to shut up and lifting a huge burden from Robin's shoulders.
