I know I said that Master and Servant will be my first AU fic. But I want you all to wait more before that. I still have some doubts on how I will write the plot. It might take longer than you think since I have another AU fic in my mind other than this one, but at least you won't get bored waiting (I think). This fic isn't something out of the ordinary, but it will surely please you.

Friends or Lovers?

"LUFFY! ACE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! ARE YOU PLANNING TO BE LATE AT SCHOOL ON THE FIRST DAY?! I WILL NOT FORGIVE THAT!"

Luffy groaned when the loud voice of his grandfather ruined the peaceful morning. He covered his face with his pillow and considered sleeping back a second time… But the memories of the old man's fists made him think that it was a bad idea.

"SHUT UP GRAMPS! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT I'M NOT A HIGH SCHOOLER LIKE LUFFY! I'M NOT STARTING SCHOOL TODAY!"

Now Ace was yelling as loud as him. Fortunately for Luffy, Garp went to Ace's room and they continued yelling there, but more quietly to not break their eardrums.

"Then explain why Sabo is up and ready for school! Find a better excuse!"

"We are in different colleges!" Ace simply answered back with a yell.

The youngest member of the family smiled and stood up from his bed with another groan before he went through his daily routines. He wore a v-neck black shirt and short cargo pants before joining his grandfather and brothers.

As usual in the Monkey D. household, breakfast was very noisy. Luffy grinned and laughed heartfully when his grandpa and big brother bickered during the meal, while he was eating more than half of it under their nose. Sabo was restraining a laugh as he imagined the look they will have when they will notice what Luffy had done. But the younger brother escaped the place before they could do that.

Luffy didn't really like school, but he was eager to see his friends. They were so fun! He played with them all summer, but there was one person he had missed very much for the last month. And that person, a woman, lived just next to his house.

As he started walking toward school, Luffy looked at his neighbor's house and wondered if she came back from her vacation. He shrugged and walked forward, deciding to wait at school, until he heard her voice.

"Luffy!"

Luffy looked at the house's second floor window and grinned when a young woman with short length orange hair, waved her hand at him. She was wearing a gray tunic and most likely some jeans for her lower half as he couldn't see her fully.

"Oh, Nami!" he waved his hand back.

"Wait for me! I'm getting ready!"

"Hurry up, Nami! We are going to be late you know?!"

"I know!" she yelled from inside her room.

Luffy leaned against the gate of Nami's house as he patiently waited for her. He was never a punctual student so it didn't really bother him to be late…as long as his grandpa doesn't find out about it.

Nami ran toward the gate and opened it, before she leaped at Luffy. She hugged him tightly and very intimately as the young man embraced her the same way.

"I missed you Luffy…" she whispered with her arms around his neck.

"I missed you too," he whispered back with a wide smile, his cheeks flushing a little at the soft feeling on his chest.

When she pulled away, the black-haired young man asked, "How was your trip? It was fun?"

Nami grinned. "Yeah! It was great! But it would have been better if a certain someone answered my mails while I was away."

Luffy smiled nervously as they started walking toward the school. "Sorry, I broke my phone… I need to buy a new one."

But Nami looked suspiciously at him. "Are you sure? You're not lying because you were too lazy to answer back right?"

"No, I swear!"

The orange-haired woman hummed as she decided to believe him. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and looked up in thought.

"Then let's go shop together after school. After buying a new phone, you will have to pay back for making me feel lonely during my trip. I warn you, you will be shocked when you will check your mails."

"H-How much did you send…?" Luffy asked.

"At least four per day so…minimum eighty messages?"

His head fell down. "It's going to be long…"

Nami smiled. "I'm not going to forgive you if you delete them without reading anything."

"Can't you just tell me what you wrote?" the young man whined.

"Nope," She stuck out her tongue playfully. "I wrote what I did during my entire trip. You have to read them before I can talk about it. Or it will feel like I just wasted my time typing all that."

Luffy sighed as he put his hands in his pockets. She can be more stubborn than him so it was useless trying to convince her..

Nami hooked her arm with his casually, and Luffy didn't look surprised at all. "I hope we can be in the same class this year."

The young man now grinned. "That would be great! You can cover for me when I get on the teachers' bad sides."

She rolled her eyes. "I won't do that, but I can at least prepare an extra lunch box for you every day."

"Really?! Yeah! I love you Nami!" Luffy hugged her.

"Yes, yes. I love you too. Now walk faster or we're really going to be late."

"Okay!"

"Isn't this class kinda weird?" a long nose asked.

"You think…?" a swirly brow asked.

"I agree. It feels like they put all the funny people in the same class."

"Oi! You're not talking about us right?!" the two former yelled to the latter.

"Hey Zoro, Usopp, Sanji!" Luffy called as soon as he entered the classroom, followed by Nami.

"Nami-swaaaan~!" Sanji called happily, ignoring the black-haired young man.

"You were almost late. What were you doing? Flirting on the first day of school?" Zoro asked with a smirk.

But Nami answered his teasing calmly. "What are you talking about? We were not flirting and we never flirted even once, mind you."

Zoro and Usopp rolled their eyes at her statement.

"Nami-san! We're here!" A blue-haired woman spotted Nami at the entrance and called her to join the group of female friends near the windows.

"Ah, Vivi! Everyone!" Nami walked toward the group, leaving the boys alone.

Usopp turned to Luffy with narrowed eyes, as if he tried to figure out something. "I know I'm always asking this but when are you two going to hook up already?"

Luffy tilted his head. "Why should I hook up with Nami?"

"Because you clearly look like a couple!" Usopp yelled with his voice down so that the other people don't hear him.

"You always act more intimately than some married couples," Zoro said.

Sanji was biting his napkin as he cried. "The worst thing is that you don't even realize it!"

Luffy blinked in confusion and looked at Nami. He then looked up in thought, before grinning at his friends. "Well, I would surely love to marry Nami. That, I'm sure."

His friends rolled their eyes since this was always his answer when they asked questions about Nami and him. And they knew he was sincere when he said that. But...

"I still don't know what you mean about going out together."

The three sighed at that. From this point, they always stopped the conversation, since they knew no answer will come out of it. It was always like that. And the problem was not only Luffy's innocence. Far from that.

In Nami's group, the girls were talking mostly about…girls stuff. And since some of them met for the first time, they made sure to know about everyone's current love lives to not cause problems for each other, in case one girl falls unknowingly for another girl's boyfriend. The classroom was basically a hunting ground, and the hunters didn't want to hunt the same prey.

A random woman sensually bit her lower lip as she looked dreamily at Luffy's green-haired friend. "I hope no one wants Zoro because I've set my eyes on him ever since I entered this classroom. I won't lie; I wanted him to impregnate me ever since he glared into my eyes~!"

"Wow, you're so dirty."

"That's a shame," another woman cried at the thought of not being able to choose Zoro. But then she said, "Well, it doesn't matter. I was aiming for Law in the first place."

"What?! It's unfair!"

Perona scoffed. "Please, there is no man worthy enough here. I hoped to encounter a man covered in stitches, but there was no one this year too."

"Why did you think you can find someone like that at school…?"

"It's your turn Vivi. Who are you aiming for?"

The blue haired woman stiffened, but Nami laughed as she answered for her.

"Vivi always had the hots for Kozha. You didn't know?"

"Ah yeah, now that you say it."

"But she was never able to confess to him even though they are childhood friends," the orange-haired woman continued. "That's funny right?"

"I don't want to hear that from you, Nami-san!" Vivi yelled with a blush.

"What do you mean?" Marguerite asked.

"Well, you see the black-haired man with Zoro-san?" Vivi pointed discreetly toward Luffy.

Some women nodded, while the others sighed as they already knew what she was about to say.

"He is Nami-san's childhood friend. They've known each other since they were toddlers and they have always been together, even now!"

Marguerite blinked with her mouth agape. "Really? That's wonderful! It would be so romantic if you were to fall in love with someone so close like that and marry him. You would have literally spent your entire life with him!"

"That's the plan," Nami grinned while Vivi sighed. "Luffy is so sweet you know. He can be dense and stupid at times but I wouldn't exchange him for anyone!"

"Look who is talking about being dense or stupid," a few women thought.

The women who didn't really know Nami looked so enviously at her, but the women who did know her sighed as they were clutching their heads for some reason.

Vivi decided to make things clear to their new friends so she asked a few questions to Nami.

"Nami-san, are you going out with Luffy-san?"

"Hmm? No."

The women didn't have any change in their expressions. Nothing really surprising after all. They knew from Vivi's way of talking that Nami didn't confess to her childhood friend like her.

"Are you planning to go out with him?"

Nami sighed softly. "You asked me countless of times but my answer is still no. I don't plan to go out with him."

Now their new friends' jaws dropped a little. "What?"

"Do you want to marry him?" Vivi asked another question.

Nami grinned. "Of course!"

Every woman in the group furrowed their brows. Some narrowed their eyes at her, as if they were trying to solve a puzzle. But they couldn't make heads or tails of what she was saying.

At that moment, Luffy came to Nami's side as he looked a little nervous..

"Nami! I have forgotten my pen! Do you have one for me? It would be bad if I didn't have one on the first day."

"Hmm? Of course I have one. I know you always forget something. Here," Nami said as she handed him her spare pen.

"You saved me Nami! I love you!" Luffy yelled.

The whole class heard his 'declaration of love' and they watched as the young man kissed Nami's cheek.

"Yes, yes. I love you too. Now go back to Zoro and all. You're bothering us."

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry." Luffy ran back to his male friends.

"Last question, Nami-san," Vivi started in the awkward silence. "Are you friends? Or lovers?"

Nami blinked. "What are you asking silly? Of course, we are friends!"

"Huh?!"

So? How was it? I should have made it longer but I thought it was the perfect moment to stop the chapter. It's a simple fic about how some circumstances and experiences can make a relationship very complicated. I hope I made it clear for everyone how weird their relationship is. I hope...