Chapter Text
Luffy had a terrible habit of being late to school. Not like it was his fault that one of his favorite games ever got a remake that dropped at 12am. He had to be there of course. He had to be one of the first to play it, playing for 6 hours and loving every minute of it. What he didn’t love is having class at 8am. Now he was 30 minutes late and he knew when he got home, Dadan would be on his ass. Luffy groaned, walking through the unwelcoming school doors.
God, how he loathed school, it was like a socially acceptable prison. He hated being in a cramped room for 45 minutes to an hour. He hated being forced fed information he knew he wasn’t going to remember. He hated being in this furnace of a building for 6 hours while running on nothing but fumes and a prayer. He hated school, but one thing he didn’t hate were his friends he got to see. Luffy beamed, spotting a familiar green haired student who was waving at him. “Zoro!” Luffy yelled out, running full speed into his friend. They fell with a thud, Zoro cursing under his breath before he hit Luffy on the head with his notebook.
“Dumbass! Are you trying to kill me?!”
“Hehehe…no! I didn’t expect you to fall down like that though.” Luffy replied, helping his friend up. Zoro rolled his eyes before picking his stuff up. “Ugh whatever. You almost missed homeroom. Let’s get ready to go.” Zoro said, walking forward down the hall. Luffy tilted his head curiously. They had been in school for at least two weeks now. Surely Zoro knew which way their homeroom was. “Zoro, it’s this way.” Luffy pointed in the opposite direction. Zoro turned around, ears red and eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, obviously I knew that!”
He did not know that.
Luffy giggled and nodded, playing along with Zoro. They headed for the homeroom together, eventually bumping into another friend, Usopp. The three of them made up the trio that ran the video game club. Luffy remembers in freshman year when he met them, begging them to join his club. Mostly because Luffy wanted an excuse to blow school funds in games, but he also wanted to make new friends. And they became friends fast, being close ever since.
Luffy settled in his seat, Zoro and Ussop sitting behind him. He could hear them whispering about something, but he didn’t quite care for what it was. That and he was half asleep, head in his arm on his desk, using his index finger to play with eraser shavings that were left behind. A short time later, their teacher walked in, snapping her fingers to get the students’ attention. Her name was Mrs. Robin and she taught history and government, but she was also one of the junior homeroom teachers.
“Good morning everyone,” she started with a smile. “Today we will be introducing a new student. He just transferred today. Please welcome him and help him around if he needs. Sanji?” She turned towards the door, calling for the boy who stood outside. Sanji slowly made his way into the classroom, the heels of his dress shoes clicking as he walked. Luffy looked up and his eyes widened. Saying Sanji was beautiful was an understatement, damn near an insult. He was breathtaking. His gorgeous blonde hair covered one of his eyes, but the one you could see was an heavenly blue. The sunny sky outside couldn’t hold a candle to it. It was like Luffy saw the ocean, a beautiful beach on a hot summer day and it all lay within Sanji’s pupil. Sanji’s face was slightly flush, but you could still see his freckles. Their school didn't have uniforms, yet Sanji was dressed in a blue dress shirt and black slacks with a matching black tie.
Luffy pupils were blown out, like a cat who just found a new favorite toy. Although he didn’t see the gorgeous man before him as such, Sanji was more like a prize. A treasure you get at the end of a hard dungeon. An achievement only .01% of players have. And Luffy wanted that achievement. He watched as the blonde made a small introduction, talking about how his family moved here from France because his dad is a scientist. His English was pretty good for being from France, but he also had a slight accent. Mrs. Robin smiled at Sanji, giving him a small applause which Luffy joined in. Zoro tugged at Luffy’s shirt, giving him a confused glare when the other turned around. “Okay Sanji, pick somewhere to sit. Let’s get started with announcements guys.” Sanji scanned the room, eventually spotting the empty desk next to Luffy. God, Luffy had never been happier that his friends weren’t sitting next to him.
Luffy turned to Sanji, watching as he got settled in his seat. He didn’t realize he was staring, but the blonde certainly did, raising his curiously swirled eyebrow. “What’re you staring at?”
“You,” Luffy answered, not picking up on how incredibly blunt that was. Sanji scoffed, looking the other way. “Your mom never taught ya it was rude to stare?”
“Hmm…yeah. Sorry. Oh by the way, I’m Luffy.” he beamed, holding his hand out to the new boy. “Don’t care, didn't ask.” Luffy heard Zoro grumble behind him, something about ‘stupid pretty boy thinks he can talk to my best friend like that?’. Luffy didn’t care though, he was too busy smiling at Sanji. Although he had a shitty attitude, it only made Luffy want to talk to him more. “Hey, you should join my club!”
“What?” Sanji turned back at Luffy, half confused, half annoyed.
“Hell no! Luffy, he was rude as hell to you. I don’t want that prick in our club.” Zoro interrupted, half jumping out of his seat. Sanji’s eyes shifted to Zoro, giving him the meanest look he could muster. “I don’t remember him asking you, lime wonder.” Sanji smirked, making Luffy’s heart jump. He was the prettiest thing Luffy’s ever seen. Even though he seemed shitty, he was stunning. Awe inspiring. Angelic. Zoro stood up out of his seat, pointing his pencil at Sanji like it was some kind of sword. “You wanna fight, jackass?!” Sanji followed his movements, still smirking as he placed his hands in his pockets. “Hell yeah, you moss headed freak!”
Mrs. Robin cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the two bickering idiots. “Is there an announcement you two would like to make?” They stayed silent. “No? Then please take a seat and let me finish.” They listened and sat down.
Luffy chuckled softly. “Zoro and Sanji are so dumb” he mumbled, mostly to himself. Zoro heard and tossed a pencil that hit the back of Luffy’s head.
———
Homeroom eventually ended and students slowly started to leave the room, save for Luffy and Zoro who had class in that room the next period. Luffy had busied himself with doodling two of his favorite characters from his new game. They were pretty crude drawings, but he never claimed to be an artist. Someone tapped on his desk, gaining his attention, he turned to see Sanji. His face had a slight blush as he held out his schedule.
“Hey…can you tell me where my next class is?” Sanji asked shyly, looking like a snail who wanted to claw back into his shell. Luffy beamed and took the paper from his hands. His eyes ran over the other’s schedule, noticing how they had many classes together except for the fact Sanji had a cooking class. That made sense since they went to a speciality school that had many different classes from most regular schools. It was like a mini college where each student had a speciality they focused on along with normal classes. Luffy was taking game design, Zoro was taking welding and Usopp was taking auto.
Luffy smiled and turned back to look at Sanji, “We have government together next and then we have calculus…can you not read English?” Luffy was genuinely wondering since Sanji’s English sounded fine, but he also knew reading and speaking a language were two different things. Especially when it wasn’t your first language. Luffy, his brothers, Dadan and his grandfather spoke Portuguese with him. They knew English, but it wasn't their first language. Sanji looked to the side, seemingly embarrassed and he nodded his head. “Yeah. I can speak English just fine, but I fuck up with reading it sometimes,” Sanji answered honestly. Luffy handed him the sheet back, still smiling ear to ear.
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you read whatever you need,” and Luffy meant that. Something about Sanji made Luffy want to do whatever he asked of him. Sanji slightly smiled back, thanking Luffy from under his breath. Zoro huffed from behind him. The room started to fill up with new students and Mrs. Robin began teaching.
———
Lunch rolled around a lot faster than Luffy anticipated. He was yawning more frequently as he shuffled through the halls. Usually he would meet Zoro and Usopp in the cafeteria for lunch, but now he was heading for the teacher’s lounge in desperate need of coffee. Just the many perks of being a club leader, access to the teacher’s lounge. “Luffy!”
He stopped, turning his head to see Sanji jogging up to him. Despite running on E, Luffy flashed Sanji a toothy smile. “Sanji! What's up?” Sanji stopped in front of the shorter boy, trying to catch his breath while Luffy stood there, perplexed. “Uhm…” Sanji started. “I don’t know where the cafe is. Can you please lead me there?”
“Sure, but first I’m getting coffee from the teacher’s lounge. Wanna join?” Sanji nodded in response and they both walked together down the hall. Luffy walked next to Sanji, this was the first time he went down the hall with a pretty boy before. His cheeks reddened as he realized they were a hair’s length apart, shoulders occasionally brushing against each other. It wasn’t that serious, he walked like that with Zoro and Usopp all the time, so why was he nervous? They continued in silence until they arrived at the door. Luffy dug in his pocket, eventually producing a key with a cute keychain of some anime looking girl.
“Oh you play Persona too?” Sanji asked, spotting the keychain. Luffy lit up, spinning on the balls of his heels to face Sanji. “Yeah I play Persona! Do you?!” He asked excitedly. Sanji nodded, returning the brunette’s smile. “Mhm. Did you see the remake that came out early this morning?” Luffy bounced in place, overjoyed that he found someone else who loved his favorite game. Of course his two other friends liked it, but they only did because Luffy talked about it constantly. They didn’t really know anything about it. “Yes! I played it all night! That's why I need this coffee…speaking of which, let me get that. We’ll talk about that after.” Luffy said, turning back around and disappearing into the teacher’s lounge.
After about 5 minutes, Luffy came back out, two coffee cups in hand. “I didn’t know if you liked sugar or milk, so I stuffed some creamers and sugar packets in my pockets. Tell me if you want anything.” Sanji thanks Luffy, grabbing one of the coffee cups from his hands. “I usually drink my coffee black”
“Oh okay. I like sugar and cream,” Luffy replied, sitting down on the floor in front of the door. Sanji followed him, sitting in front of Luffy. Luffy poured one of the creamers and a few sugars into his coffee before he giggled, causing Sanji to look up at him. “Damn, lunch would probably be over by the time we got to the cafeteria. Why don’t we just eat here?” Luffy suggested with another one of those smiles. Sanji hummed before he silently agreed, opening his backpack to get his lunch. Luffy took his bag off his back, digging through the mess that was in there.
Fuck.
He forgot his lunch on the counter at home because he was rushing to leave. Luffy sighed, sagging his head as he held his bag in defeat. “What’s wrong Luffy?”
“I forgot my lunch at home. I guess I can just eat after school…” Before he could properly sulk, Sanji held his lunchbox up to Luffy. “Here, we can share. I made a lil extra today anyways” Sanji said softly before putting the box in between them. He grabbed a second fork out of his bag, as if he was prepared to share his food. “No Sanji. You should eat your lunch. It’s not your fault I forgot mine.” Sanji shook his head, forcing the fork into Luffy’s hand.
“Nonsense, I refuse to watch you go hungry if I can help it. Now, eat. Go on.” Sanji encouraged, finally causing Luffy to cave and look at the lunchbox. It was beautifully packed with a sandwich, cut into fours, a side salad, a container of mini hotdogs with ketchup and mustard, a few orange slices and some heart shaped cookies. Luffy couldn’t believe his eyes, Sanji really wasn’t lying when he said he had more than enough food. Luffy went after one of the hotdogs, “Your mom must’ve worked her ass off making this.” He said before popping the hotdog in his mouth. “Actually, I made all of this.”
And it hit Luffy like a truck. The flavor of the food he’d just eaten was nothing like he’d ever had before. It was like the big bang just went off in his mouth. He felt like he was at a carnival, watching fireworks with Sanji. He could smell the grills working overtime, and feel the warm summer heat on his skin. “Luffy.” Sanji said as he held his hand out to lead him to a carnival game. He felt Sanji pull him along as they went from stall to stall. “Luffy.” Sanji said as he showed him a stuffed animal he won at one of the games. “Luffy!” Sanji said as he snapped Luffy out of his trance and back to reality. “You okay?”
“Wow…that was…the best food I’ve ever had! Sanji, you’re an amazing cook!” Sanji smirked before taking a bite out of the slice of sandwich in his hand. “Damn right. The best cook in my hometown.” Luffy believed it, he was almost afraid to try more, lest he have another out of body experience. That didn’t stop Luffy from grabbing at one of the slices of sandwich. He took a bite and another explosion went off in his mouth. Luffy hummed in glee. “You’re studying cooking right? You’re probably going to run circles around everyone. Even the damn teacher.” Sanji chuckled, grabbing one of the cookies he baked, holding it out for Luffy. “Try it.” And Luffy obeyed, taking the cookie from the other’s hand and taking a bite. He was immediately filled with immense warmth as he felt all the love Sanji poured into that one cookie. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he chewed the cookie with a frown.
“What the fuck are you sad about?” Sanji asked, looking at Luffy with slight concern. Luffy’s trance dissolved as he locked eyes with Sanji. “That was the best cookie I’ve ever had…” Sanji laughed again. “I'd hope so. I wanna open up my own restaurant one day so I need to know how to cook right.” Luffy continued to stare at Sanji as he watched his face shift from slightly happy to absolutely elated. Sanji smiled wide, eyes fully opening in comparison to the slight squint he had going on. “I’m gonna travel all the blue seas and cook for the whole world. I want to open as many restaurants as I can and share my love for cooking with the world.”
Luffy finally got it. He figured that’s what it was before, but he finally understood what this feeling was. He was in love. Monkey D. Luffy was in love with his new friend, Sanji. Luffy stared at the older boy, mouth agape and a slight blush on his cheeks as his heart pounded. Hearing Sanji talk about his dream lit a fire in his heart, his face lighting up as he spoke moved Luffy as an indescribable affection flooded his body. “Sanji.”
“Hmm?”
“Join my club!”