The group of teenagers entered the building and emerged from the rain, three of them with sighs of relief and one with a slightly disappointed pout.
"Tom! I need a table for four," Usopp said as the bell above the door rang, signaling his arrival.
The man named Tom looked at the group entering the restaurant and sighed, "And why should I? They woke my wife and me up an hour earlier than usual."
Usopp gave the man a big smile: "I have to make sure you're always on your guard. You never know when real pirates might be around!"
Tom sighed once more; there was no way to convince Usopp to give up his morning rounds. "Fine, you can take that table over there," he said, pointing to an empty booth in the corner of the building.
"Thank you so much, Tom!" said Usopp, leading the group toward the corner the man had pointed out, while the group of teenagers sat around the table.
"Meat! I want meat!" Luffy said, banging his fork and knife on the table... Where did he get them from?
Nami shook her head at the straw hat boy and turned to Zoro: "I'm not paying for Luffy. That's your fault, Zoro. And while you're at it," she gave the swordsman puppy-dog eyes, "can you pay for me too?"
"Get your own damn food, witch. I just want alcohol," Zoro said, grinning as he watched the pleading on her face turn to indignation. "And Luffy, if I run out of money because of you..."
"Meat! Meat! Meat!" Luffy shouted, not realizing that the green one was talking to him.
"I'll get you something to eat, Luffy, don't worry," Usopp told the hungry boy. He turned to a waiter and ordered for everyone. The waiter said he'd be back in a little while with all the food and drinks. He turned to Luffy and said, "While we wait, can you tell me more about my father?"
Nami and Zoro approached. Perhaps they could hear what Luffy was like as a child.
"Of course!" exclaimed Luffy. "Shanks said he was the best sniper in the world. I even saw him shoot a fly's wings once! It didn't even kill it!"
"Shanks?" they all asked in unison.
"Yes! Shanks is the captain of the Red-Haired Pirates! And Yasopp is their sniper!" Luffy said, laughing. Everyone was making funny faces.
The other occupants stared in astonishment at the boy in the straw hat: "THAT SHANKS?!"
"My... my dad... is he on the crew... of a Sea Emperor?" Usopp wondered, incredulous.
Nami frowned; she hated talking about pirates. And it was impossible that a pirate like Shanks the Red-Haired could be as good as Luffy had said; she hadn't forgotten. He was an Emperor of the Sea, and it was impossible that he hadn't done some terrible things to get that title!
"So you're telling us... that Shanks the Red-Haired, an Emperor of the Sea, stayed on your island when you were a kid?" Zoro asked. The swordsman thought it was a miracle Luffy was alive; he was one of those guys who would do something stupid like make fun of that man's hair and end up dead.
"Yes!" Luffy exclaimed. "They stayed on the island for a while. I think a year, maybe a little longer." What was a Sea Emperor?
Usopp leaned back in his chair to process the new information with a look of surprise on his face, but he quickly recovered and a confident smile took over his face.
"Place your order," a waiter said over the shoulder of the long-nosed boy.
"Meat!" Luffy shouted with joy as the waiter began placing the plates on the table. He wasted no time, not even waiting for his first course to be fully served before he started eating it.
"So my dad's the Red-Haired Pirates' sniper. I'm not surprised in the slightest! After all, he's MY dad," Usopp grinned despite his lie. Of course he was surprised! Who wouldn't be upon discovering that their father was not only on an emperor's crew but also the world's best sniper? Usopp paled at the mere thought. It was a lot to live up to.
Zoro and Nami looked at each other with skeptical expressions.
"That's not a very good lie..." Nami said, spearing a piece of lettuce with her fork. She'd ordered salad. What? She put so much effort into looking so good. She glanced at Luffy, who was devouring his food as it was being served. If he ate like that, he'd probably be the size of a whale by now, and she was far too proud of how she looked for that to happen!
"I agree with the witch on this," Zoro said, taking a sip from his second cup of sake, with an empty cup already in front of him.
"I'm not lying! He really is my dad!" Usopp reasoned animatedly, as he ate too.
Zoro and Nami looked at each other again. "That's not what we were talking about," they said in unison, a bead of sweat trickling down their faces.
Usopp smiled awkwardly and decided not to answer, staring at his plate and stuffing himself with food. They'd caught him again! Those two were clever...
The table fell silent as all the occupants concentrated on their food, each eating at their own pace.
Usopp was the first to finish, quickly gobbling down his food; after all, he had more questions to ask. "Well, from what I hear, my father is an amazing man," Usopp said to the straw-hatted boy in front of him. "I'd like to know more about him, if you don't mind."
His response was the sound of a mouth slurping at top speed. Luffy was focused on eating because he loved it. Nothing could break his concentration, except... his mouth hitting the bottom of the plate. "More! Bring me more meat!" Luffy shouted into the air, tapping the plate against the table with surprising gentleness. He still needed something to eat. But did he really?
"Umm..." Usopp turned to Zoro and Nami. "Is he always like this?" he asked. The two didn't seem very surprised by Luffy's eating habits. In fact, they both seemed amused by the small smiles on their faces. Although Nami's was barely visible, it was still there.
"Quite a bit," Zoro replied simply. He really hoped Luffy would slow down. If he kept going at the same pace... The green man groaned, gulping down the rest of his sake. His stupid future captain would definitely drain him dry.
Nami stared at the boy she couldn't understand. He seemed so simple. Direct and foolish. But the other day on the ship... Why had he asked her that? What did he care? He said he just wanted to be her friend, but there had to be more to it, right? Besides, there was the fact that she had saved his life. Zoro had too, but he still called her a witch.
She frowned to herself, glancing at the green-haired idiot beside her, her mind drifting back to Luffy. He'd said he wanted to be a pirate, and even after that, the black-haired boy still made her smile ALL THE TIME. Nami didn't even think he was really trying—sometimes he just couldn't help it! When he smiled at her, something inside her wanted to smile back. It wasn't just her; she'd seen it with Zoro too. She had a feeling everyone felt the same way. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "What he said," she replied.
"Meat! Meat! Meat!" Luffy exclaimed, banging his knife and fork on the table once more.
Zoro narrowed his eyes at his future captain. "Luffy, if you execute me dr-"
"Meat! Meat! Meat!" Luffy interrupted, not caring at all about the green. He was still hungry! Where was the waiter with the rest of his food?
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Hi everyone, what do you think of the story so far? The book has over 300 chapters. If you'd like to download the complete book, it's available on my Ko-fi page. Here's the link: 👉 🤩 ko-fi.com/winterstar01 🤩