章節 21: Chapter 21: Repair!
1/3 of the month.
During the first third of the month, nothing significant occurred regarding Luffy's mental stability. This was mostly due to the fact that Luffy spent most of that time sleeping. To address the situation, his subconscious intervened and forced him into a 10-day coma. While he was in this state, Luffy was placed under the watchful care of Recovery Girl in her infirmary. This allowed her to monitor his vital signs and ensure that he was receiving proper treatment.
"Yawn." Luffy yawned as he opened his eyes for the first time in 10 days. He smacked his dry lips, did some small arm stretches and rubbed the blurriness out of his eyes. He also noticed a small, see-through tube going through his nose. He looked around the room and noticed the old lady.
"Took you a while to wake up. Do you think this bed is here just for you to sleep in it?" Recovery Girl said in her usual irritated grandma voice but underneath her annoyed look, she was actually relieved that he woke up.
"Gra–" Luffy tried to say but his dry throat immediately sent waves of pain through his entire body, causing Luffy to grasp his throat.
"Don't try to speak. The nasogastric tube keeps you fed and watered, but since it goes straight into your stomach, it doesn't really help you with a dry throat." Recovery Girl said as she pointed at the tube sticking out of Luffy's nose. Luffy, not liking the sensation of the tube, yanked it out. "Don't do that! You'll injure yourself. Tsk, tsk, tsk, kids these days."
After Luffy took out the long tube, he spotted a glass of water and quickly drank it. He felt instant relief as the cold water entered his tummy. Recovery Girl watched him down the cup of water and couldn't help but worry.
"Are you okay sonny?" Recovery Girl asked him. "Listen, I heard what happened, I don't know the full story but I know you're in a pretty dark place right now."
Luffy didn't immediately answer her, as he was too busy filling up his glass of water at a water dispenser. After about 4 glasses of water, he said. "I'll be fine."
"Sigh. I can't believe that that energetic, big-mouthed kid turned into the strong silent type." She said as she went back to her desk and dialed a phone number. "Maybe that girlfriend of yours can turn you back."
"Girlfriend?" Luffy asked as he went to sit back on the bed.
"Yeah, Momo Yaoyorozu, she visited you daily while you were sleeping. I think she had nothing better to do, or maybe she cared about you that much." Recovery Girl said as she waited for the phone to pick up. "There were others, of course, everybody in your class visited you at least once, even that Bakugou brat. They were the ones that brought those balloons and flowers."
She said as she pointed at different bouquets of flowers sitting at his bedside, some more weathered than the others. There were also a bunch of 'get well soon' cards and balloons.
"Some teachers also stopped by but the ones who stood around her the most were definitely Yaoyorozu and Aizawa. Sometimes I'd catch him sleeping here in that sleeping bag of his and had to kick him out, saying stuff like 'I'm his guardian so I should be here for him.' That idiot, it's not like he knew when you were– Oh, wait a second." Recovery Girl said as she started talking on the phone.
"Yeah, he just woke up… Well, physically he's fine, I can't say the same for him mentally… Please do get him, it's not like this is his hotel room… Don't worry, I'll call Aizawa and report to him, besides he has classes now. Alright, see you soon." Recovery Girl said as she put down her phone and went to a nearby drawer. She got Luffy's clothes and handed them to him. "Can't have you run around in patient clothes now, do we?"
U.A. Dorms.
"And just as they jumped in the water, Mr. Aizawa caught them and canceled their quirks, making all 3 of them face-plant into the water. Isn't that funny?" Momo said with a bit of a forced laugh as she opened the door to the dorms and walked in with Luffy slowly walking behind her. Luffy did not laugh. "Anyway, they were pretty mad that the swimming race got canceled right at the finale but, if you ask me, they weren't even swimming. Bakugou was flying, Todoroki was skiing and well, Midoriya was swimming I guess. I mean, that is what I was told."
"Oh, okay." Luffy said in a monotone voice.
"...How about you Lu? Did anything change while you were sleeping?" Momo asked as they entered the common area.
"Not really." Luffy said as he plopped on an armchair.
*Well, that's a lie. You're walking now, and that means progress!* Momo thought with a smile. "Hey, what do you say we do something fun? Not today but someday. Like going to the park, or to the mall? To get you reinstated in this world."
"..."
Momo didn't know whether Luffy accepted or not, but she decided to be optimistic and take his silence as a yes.
2/3 of the month.
Momo's Room.
The next day
8:30 P.M.
"Okay Lu, It's time to go." Momo said after glancing at a nearby clock. She closed her book and put it on her shelf, Luffy was just mindlessly staring out the window. "They're probably waiting for us."
"?" Luffy didn't say anything but looked confused.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? The class is having dinner downstairs. They said they wanted you to come." Momo said. Trying her best to not blow her cover.
"Not hungry." Luffy said but a tummy grumble left Momo thinking otherwise.
"It doesn't sound like that to me. C'mon, stand up, it's time to go." Momo said a bit more sternly but Luffy didn't make any indication of moving, he just turned to his window. But Momo was not having it.
"No, you don't, this is non-negotiable. You have to come." But after still not receiving an answer, she decided to be a little more forceful. "I did warn you."
She pulled on Luffy's arm hard enough to yank him out of his seat, which also caused Luffy to fall face flat on the ground. "Huh?" Momo did not expect that, she expected Luffy to catch himself, but he looked like he didn't even care.
"Are you okay?" Momo said as she picked Luffy off the ground and put him on his feet. "Sorry, I thought… Well, I just thought that you would protect yourself or something."
"It's fine." Luffy said as he went back to his seat near the window.
"You still have to come, you know? Let's go." Momo said as she pulled on the back of his shirt. Seeing as he didn't budge, she continued to pull and pull and pull. "I'm not going to stop until you agree to come."
With a sigh, Luffy finally said "Fine, but just this once."
"Of course! This is the last time I invite you to dinner." Momo said happily. They proceeded to exit the room.
Dining Area.
"Quiet! They're coming!" Jirou said in a loud whisper while listening to Luffy's and Momo's footsteps with her quirk.
"Okay! Everybody, just like we practiced, okay?" Kaminari said with a confetti popper in hand. "Kirishima, the lights!"
Kirishima turned off the lights on the entire first floor since the kitchen, dining area, and common area were all connected without any real walls in between.
"Nice, now just remember what i-" Kaminari was cut off by a sharp earlobe.
"Shut up! They're here!" Jirou angrily whispered. They quickly hid in the shadows and waited.
.
.
"Huh? Where's everyon-"
"SURPRISE!" Mostly the whole class yelled out at once as they jumped out of their respective hiding area. Almost instantly, multiple confetti poppers popped all at once, leaving Momo and Luffy covered in glitter and confetti. The ones who didn't do this were obviously, Bakugou and Todoroki. While Todoroki did have a small smile on his face as he watched a terrified Momo trying to catch her breath and an emotionless Luffy, Bakugou just sulked on the couch.
"Hey, man! Congrats on getting better!" Kirishima said happily as hugged Luffy from the side with one arm.
"Yeah dude, you really scared the hell out of us!" Kaminari said as he lightly punched Luffy in the shoulder. "Next time, give us a heads up." He said jokingly.
"I am also glad to see our class representative in good health again." Iida said with a smile.
"Yeah plus, who would have thought that gear 5 takes so much out of you." Mineta said as he looked at his still unpopped popper. "Mine didn't pop."
"No kidding, it's an amazing power-up but it comes at a crazy price." Midoriya said near Mineta. They reached the conclusion that Luffy's coma was due to gear 5 and not self-induced.
"You're one to talk, every time you use your quirk you come out with at least a couple broken bones." Hakagure said, which made Midoriya bashfully scratch the back of his head.
"I-I guess you're righ– OW!" Midoriya shouted in pain as Mineta popped the confetti popper straight to the back of his neck.
"Now it pops!" Mineta said, annoyed that he didn't get to do it with everyone else, not noticing the confetti and glitter covered Midoriya rubbing the back of his neck in pain.
"Although, I am a bit surprised that you didn't even flinch." Sero said to Luffy, which prompted Tsuyu to speak up.
"Well, he can see into the future. What did you guys expect?" Kaminari and a few others facepalmed, unaware that Luffy wasn't using future sight at the time.
"Why didn't you tell us?! I completely forgot!" Mina said a bit annoyed and embarrassed.
"I didn't wanna ruin your fun." Tsuyu said, which prompted Bakugou to say 'Idiots.'
"You guys could have at least warned me!" Momo said, a bit angry at being caught so off-guard.
"We did, we said that we're throwing a surprise party for the rep." Jirou said confused.
"Well yeah, but you didn't have to jump us!" Momo said which quickly made the others realize.
"Wait, you do know that this is what you do at a surprise party right?" Mina said, having caught the conversation.
"Huh? You mean you have to ambush people at their entrance?" Momo now said a bit confused.
"Yeah, that's why it's called a 'surprise' party." Jirou said, and after a second, it clicked in Momo's head.
"Oooh! That's why it's called a surprise because you surprise the person the part is for!" Momo said, which made the others realize that she never experienced a surprise party before. "What fun concept the lower class developed!"
"...Umm–" Ochako was about to say something but was cut off.
"It's not worth it, she probably doesn't even realize what she just said." Jirou said in a whisper.
"Hey rep! Check this out!" Hakagure said as she revealed a piece of clothing hidden by her floating clothes. "Boom! It's your hat!"
"We had it cleaned up for you. Knowing you, it was probably never washed." Mina said as she snatched the hat out of Hakagure's hand and twirled it on her finger.
"It's not much, but since you live with Yaomomo, you probably don't need anything, financially speaking." Kaminari said as he patted Luffy on the back.
"I still do believe that an educational book could do wonders for him!" Iida said, a bit annoyed at having his idea shot down.
"I keep telling you Iida, he'd probably use that book to fall asleep rather than actually read it." Tsuyu said, which saddened Iida.
"Anyway, here you go!" Mina said as he placed the straw hat on Luffy's head. "Ah, doesn't that feel just right?"
"Okay! Let's calm down and hear a couple of words from the man of the war!" Kirishima said loudly, silencing the whole class.
"Now, here we have the representative of class 1-A. Monkey D. Luffy who, just until recently, was in a 10-day coma. Tell the viewers at home, Mr. Luffy. How're you feeling?" Kaminari said in a reporter's voice while giving Luffy a fake microphone. Momo looked especially hopeful.
"..."
"..."
"...Grumble." Luffy, still not planning on talking, was saved by his tummy making hungry noises.
"Letting the belly do the talking huh? I like it!" Kaminari said as he got Luffy in a one-arm hug and walked with him to the dinner table which was filled with food and plates.
"Still thinking only with his stomach?" Jirou asked no one in particular as everybody followed them to the table.
"Ha ha, I guess so." Momo said with a fake laugh and a forced smile, she was pretty disappointed that this whole thing still didn't spark anything in Luffy.
Soon they quickly took a seat at the table, each student grabbing a piece of their favorite food, which was either sushi, steak, fried fish with potatoes, salad, etc…
Momo, sitting next to Luffy, saw his empty plate and took it upon herself to put some food on his plate, which was a big piece of steak. This did not go unnoticed.
"Huh? Why're you helping Luf put food on his table? He isn't a toddler, you know?" Mina said, with a suspicious look. "Also, why isn't Luf eating the entire table right now? Something's going on."
"Well, um, you see," Momo stuttered as she searched for a good excuse. She didn't want to disclose Luffy's mental condition to her classmates for two reasons: firstly, she didn't want to make everyone worry about him, and secondly, she felt responsible for his current predicament. Although it wasn't her fault that Luffy was in his current state, as his caretaker and chaperone, she couldn't help but feel guilty for not preventing it somehow. As a result, she took it upon herself to find a way to improve Luffy's mental health.
"Hold on Mina, Luffy just woke up, you can't expect him to be at 100% right away." Kirishima said, not knowing the relief Momo felt.
"Exactly! Luffy's still recovering so I'm going to help him out until then." Momo said, relieved.
"Poor guy, lemme know if I can help okay?" Mina said to which Momo nodded. Soon, the whole class started talking to each other in groups of 3 or more, with nobody really focusing on 1 topic.
"Yum! This is soo good!" Hakagure said after taking a bite out of the fish.
"I know what you mean, the flavors really do dance on your tongue." Tokoyami said after eating a piece of stake.
"That's a weird way of putting it." Jirou said. "But I do wonder, who made this?"
"Oh, this is all store bought food." Ochako said as she ate some sushi. "But, it's really good right?"
"Wow, I'd never expected that." Hakagure said. "Message me the store ok?"
Ochako responded with a thumbs-up.
"Oi Iida, did you study for the test?" Ojiro said, calling out to Iida.
"Wait! Test?! What test?!" Kaminari said in surprise and in fear, not even giving a chance for Iida to respond.
"We have a test?!" Mina was in the same boat.
"Um, yeah. On Monday, for calculus." Ojiro said with a sweat drop.
"Crap! I suck at calculus." Kaminari said in despair.
"And I barely study!" Mina was also in despair but laughing.
"It's alright, as vice-president, it's my duty to help my fellow classmates. If you ask for it, I would love to tutor you on the matter." Iida said with a certain air of confidence.
"Iida! Thanks so much!" Kaminari said happily.
"You saved us!" Mina also said with tears in her eyes. In the beginning, most of their conversations were about school, but then they delved into other areas.
"No, no, listen to me. Best Jeanist is whooping Endeavor's ass, it's that simple." Kirishima said in a heated conversation.
"No way, Endeavor could set Best Jeanist on fire, what's he gonna do then? Throw clothes at him?" Kaminari said it like it was obvious. "Todoroki! Back me up here."
"This is a pointless conversation." Todoroki simply said.
"Yeah, it's pointless because it's obvious that I'm right." Kaminari said, missing the point.
"Bro, listen, Endeavor has clothes. Before he could even think about setting him on fire, he would've already been trapped." Kirishima argued.
"Can't he just light that on fire too?" Mineta intervened.
"And light himself on fire too? He's not that dumb." Kirishima said. "And besides, he would be tied up."
"Dude, he's literally fire resistant, he can't catch fire, he literally has a fire beard, like what are we talking about?! It's obvious!" Kaminari said.
"...Ok, I'll give you that but he's still not beating Best Jeanist. If he really wanted to he could just make Endeavor suffocate with his clothes. Just sayin'." Kirishima said, and without realizing it caught someone's attention.
"Oh, I didn't realize you were such a huge Best Jeanist fan, I didn't expect that from you." Midoriya said, which earned him a smirk from Kirishima.
"Well, yeah. I gotta stick up for my boy's hero, if he likes it then I have to defend it, right Bakugou?" Kirishima called out to Bakugou.
"I regretted every second of it." Bakugou said eerily calmly, which made Kirishima gasp.
"...Well, I'm too deep into it now, I can't back down now." Kirishima said as he resumed his heated discussion with Kaminari that would most likely lead nowhere. This is how most of the night went by, with laughter and strengthening the class's bond. This also led to avoiding Luffy due to most of the classmates being too busy talking with each other. Sometimes he would get asked a question, only for it to be answered by someone else or redirected.
"Hey, rep! I meant to ask when you fell asleep, we all gathered to meet you obviously, but we noticed some bandages on your hands. Where did you get those? I don't remember you having them when we did the room championship." Midoriya asked. Momo visibly started sweating. Thankfully she was saved yet again.
"Oh, Luffy fell on a bunch of knives and cut himself." Todoroki said it like it happens on a regular basis.
"He fell… on knives?" Midoriya looked confused. *How does that even happen?*
"Oh! That reminds me, I saw on social media, a new villain with knives for fingers. Looked really spooky." Mina said, completely derailing the conversation.
"That's gotta be one of the worst quirks ever." Hakagure said. "You can't even do anything with that."
"Well, actually that quirk can be really useful if you think about it, you can use it in a number of different ways, from preparing meals to possibly surgery, and if you think about it you can even…" Midoriya entered his muttering spree.
"Leave it to Deku to find a positive trait in a bad quirk." Ochako said with a small smile.
That's how most of the dinner went and to the end, most of the food was gone. Luffy's plate was mostly full, he did try to take one bite of the stake because, even if he didn't want to admit it, deep down felt a little bad for having this big party and not even eating, but swallowing that piece of meat was one of the hardest things he had to do, as weird as that may sound. Eating when you don't have an appetite is already difficult, but add the lack of will to keep going and you get yourself an incredibly difficult task to accomplish. For Luffy, in his current state, his very body and mind were rejecting food.
The next day, Momo decided to take Luffy on a stroll around the campus, mainly the park-like area. It was not an easy task, trying to convince Luffy to come outside, but after dozens of tries he finally gave in, not knowing if it was for Momo's sake or for his own.
As Momo and Luffy were walking on the sidewalk, Momo struggled with finding conversation topics. She didn't want to get straight to the point and go dull psychiatrist on Luffy, but she also didn't want to waste this chance just by silently walking the whole time.
"So, did you have last night?" Momo asked a pretty generic question to get the conversation started.
Luffy silently nodded.
"Yeah me too, I really appreciate everyone's efforts to get you settled in after the whole, you know… coma thing. Don't you agree?" Momo tried to see what Luffy thought of the party.
Luffy silently nodded.
"The food that they brought was pretty exquisite. If I do say so myself, I don't think I ever ate such high quality store food before." Momo lied, she knows that she never ate already prepared store food before. "The amount of flavors, coupled with the rich, happy atmosphere that surrounded the party was really something else, wasn't it?"
Luffy silently nodded. At this point, Momo might as well be having a conversation with a brick wall.
"...They really made such a great event. Maybe we should pay them back somehow?" Momo tried to make Luffy do something besides just stare out the window the whole day. She thought that maybe by appealing to his leadership/social butterfly like side will make him agree with her.
Luffy shook his head in disapproval.
"Oh? And why is that?" Momo asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Never told them to throw a party, they just did that by themselves." Luffy said, to which Momo sighed.
"...I can't make you do it if you don't want to, just tell me if you'll change your mind." Momo said. *Seems like plan A is a bust, onto plan B.*
"I won't." Luffy said, and then proceeded to do an 180 and head back to the dorms.
"Huh? Wait a second! I said until the park! Why are you going back now?" Momo said while doing her best to mask her annoyance. After all, she did spend the better part of an hour trying to convince Luffy.
"We are at the park." Luffy said, not looking back or turning around. Momo, slightly confused, looked at her surroundings. She saw some tables with benches surrounded by tall, great, beautiful trees.
"O-Oh, I guess you're right." Momo said as she just now noticed that they had entered the park. Apparently, she was too focused on trying to talk to Luffy that she didn't notice her surroundings at all. "But, don't you want to sit on the bench or something?"
"No." Luffy said flatly, quickly disappearing from Momo's gaze. Momo, not wanting to waste this opportunity, chased after him to continue their talk. As much as she wanted to talk to Luffy in the park, she wouldn't be able to force him there even if she tried.
Quickly catching up to him, she decided to get on with plan B. She looked at Luffy's bored expression. Quickly steeling her resolve, she asked him a painful question.
"Hey Lu–"
"What's up guys?" An unexpected, cheerful Mina appeared, interrupting Momo's question. She was accompanied by a floating pair of casual clothes.
"Didn't expect to see you guys here." Hakagure said as she waved an invisible hand at them.
"Oh, Hi. Umm, wha-why are you guys here?" Momo asked, surprised as they all stopped to talk to each other. Momo was a bit annoyed at having her question annoyed, she was more annoyed at the fact that she lost all her courage that she'd been building up.
"You know, we were just heading out to the mall downtown. I saw on the internet that they're having a killer discount on a pair of clothes that I've been eying for some time now." Mina said cheerfully.
"I'm just tagging along." Hakagure added. Luffy started walking to the dorms in the middle of their conversation. This did not go unnoticed.
"Huh? What's up with him?" Mina asked, noticing the gloom around him again. "I thought the party would've made his move like, way better."
"Lu? He just uhh, got some bad news from home… Yeah, some pretty bad news and now his feeling down." Momo said in a panic.
"Poor guy." Mina and Hakagure said sympathetically.
"Yeah, I tried to take him out for a stroll to improve his mood, but it seems that I've failed." Momo said, a little saddened.
"I'm sure he'll just bounce back up, he always does!" Mina said in a cheerful tone, in an attempt to override the sadness that Momo was bringing. "Get it? 'Cuz he's like rubber and rubber bounces and whatnot."
"Yeah, we didn't really need an explanation for that." Hakagure said.
"I don't know, this one is a big one. I'm not so sure he'll recover from it." Momo said. She appreciated Mina's attempt to lighten the mood.
"I'm sure you can do it. After all, you're his right hand woman!" Mina said with a smile on her face. "Get it?"
"What's with you and puns today?" Hakagure didn't seem to notice the quickly depressing mood that was begging to engross the group.
"Haha, thanks for that." Momo said with a slight chuckle. "I'll do my best." Momo said as she started walking back to the dorms. "Bye girls!"
"Bye!" Mina said as she waved goodbye. Momo quickly left their gaze and they proceeded to go to the mall. "Man, what was that all about?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Hakagure said, slightly confused.
"What? You mean to tell me you haven't noticed the weird mood that was around those 2?"
"What mood are you talking about?"
"Oh, my sweet, summer child, you still have so much to learn." Mina said as she sympathetically tapped her shoulder. Mina, who has always been a social butterfly, was an expert at social skills and reading the atmosphere of a room. She also knew how to change the mood of a room based on her preference. This was due to her many years as being a 'popular girl'.
"?" Hakagure on the other hand, was not as popular or as well-versed in the art of communication as she liked to be, even though she considered herself an extrovert. This was due to her quirk, making it especially difficult to be popular, as it promoted the exact opposite.
Dorms.
Common Area.
Luffy just arrived in the common area of the dorms. He found it empty, everyone being either in their rooms, studying for the next exam, or out in the city.
Seeing an empty armchair, he decided to sit in it and just stared out the wall-window.
Momo also arrived, a little out of breath from jogging all the way back, she hurried to the common area and saw Luffy sitting in an armchair. After taking a moment to compose herself, she took a deep breath and continued with plan B.
"...!" Actually, she didn't continue the fact that she lost all her courage back in the park. *Maybe next time. He looks pretty focused on staring out the window, so I shouldn't bother him, besides, he needs some time alone.* Momo thought of excuse after excuse and quickly left for her room. She knew that she was making excuses but she didn't want to enact plan B without being mentally prepared.
Some Days Later.
Common Area.
"What's up, bro?" Kaminari said as he hopped onto the sofa next to Luffy, oblivious to Luffy's foul mood. He reached for the TV remote and turned on the television. "I'm a little bored, so I'm surfing the channels, seeing if there's anything interesting. You know how it is."
Not paying any attention to him, Luffy just stared out the window. He could hear how Kaminari was switching channels, only remaining on some for a couple of seconds at the most. That was until he heard All-Might's booming voice.
"Hahaha! Have no fear citizens! Because I am Here! In your TV!" All-Might said in his usual hero outfit
"Whoa! An All-Might ad! Must be an old one, since he's all muscly." Kaminari decided to let it play out, since it got his attention.
"You might be wondering what I am doing here. Well… This is an ad for my hero agency! Look at it, isn't it beautiful?!" All-Might said with no hint of self awareness as he pointed at his Agency.
"He's really honest, isn't he?" Kaminari said as some sweat formed on his forehead.
"The Might Tower is a secure public workspace that offers countless possibilities! For both the veterans as well as the rookies. Whether you're a free-lancer, experienced side-kick or a fresh-out of the academy rookie, Might tower will welcome you!" All-Might said in a very showman-like voice as different pictures of heroes and whatnot popped up on the screen.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! An All-Might ad is on?! Why did nobody tell me?!" Kaminari and Luffy heard Midoriya's sudden, loud voice coming all the way from the other side of the common area. With a sudden burst of speed, Midoriya appeared right on the couch, watching the ad with childlike wonder. "Wow! The Might tower ad version 2B! I love this one! I can't count the number of times I watched it."
"Wow dude! You appeared out of nowhere! And did you just say version 2B?" Kaminari said, slightly bewildered. "You really are an All-Might fanboy, through and through."
"Hahaha, really?" Midoriya said with a nervous chuckle as the ad played. "Well, what can I say? He is my favorite hero after all. Plus, this ad has a really special message that I love! Oh Oh! Here it comes!"
"Now citizens, as the leader of Might tower, I have a rule of thumb that I like to follow everytime i'm in a mission with my sidekicks. 'Nobody gets left behind', in my mind a perfect leader is one that sacrifices themselves for the betterment of the crew, and that's why you should join our agency, so you'll never be left behi–" The TV suddenly cut off as Luffy quickly closed it.
"What? Luffy?" Midoriya said, slightly bewildered.
"Hey rep! What's the big idea?!" Kaminari said, somewhat angrily.
Luffy on his part, had a mix on his face between hurt/confusion/anger. He was hurt because All-Might's message hit a little too close to home. Confused because he didn't even realize what he had done until after. Angry at All-Might for having to relive some painful memories again.
"..." WIthout a word, Luffy left the common area, leaving behind two confused boys. Soon, he reached Momo's room and, instead of looking out the window, he got into bed and forced himself to sleep. Momo was slightly surprised at this, usually, Luffy would wind up falling asleep at the window, making Momo the one who has to put Luffy in the bed. She counted herself lucky, since Luffy managed to change a little bit on his own.
3/3 Of The Month.
Momo's Room.
9:00 P.M.
On the final home stretch, Momo was getting pretty antsy, she did feel like she made some sort of progress but not enough to warrant Luffy coming back to school. True he had started walking and participating in group activities more, but he still had that dead aura around him. She knew what she had to do, but she really didn't want to do it. But, because she was on a time crunch, she steeled her resolve and turned to Luffy.
Ideally, she would've done this outside, but because her chances of Luffy going back outside is about the same as him getting more than 30% on an exam, it wasn't gonna happen anytime soon. Worst case scenario, this would've happened in the common area.
"..Hey Lu, Do you think you could maybe tell me about your crewmates?" Momo said as she fully turned to Luffy, who was seated on his seat near the window. As soon as she said that, Luffy physically recoiled.
"Wha… Why would you ask me that?" Luffy had a hurt look on his face, one that looked slightly betrayed. Momo knew that this would be painful, but it had to be done, otherwise Luffy would stay like this forever.
"Well, I don't think it's fair that you closed yourself off from the world and become borderline suicidal without even telling me about them." Momo said in a cold tone.
Momo realized that what she had just said was completely unreasonable. After all, who was she to make such a demand of him? She knew she had no right to ask for it, but if Luffy didn't talk about it, he would never escape the darkness that was currently consuming him. She was determined to help him, even if it meant that he would hate her for the rest of his life.
"I mean, they couldn't have been that great, could they?" Momo's icy tone persisted. "After all, they couldn't even save their sorry excuse of a captain. What kind of pathetic crew can't even do that?"
"Oi... Stop… It." Luffy was bewildered. He never expected such sharp words to come from Momo. In his mind, Momo was a kind and caring person who radiated a warm light, always ready to take care of anyone in need. But this Momo... He couldn't feel anything besides cold, sharp words aimed straight at his heart.
"How pathetic do you have to be to not only get lost, but get lost in another world? That's insane to me. How did you even manage to get lost for that matter?" Momo's verbal attacks persisted, without any sign or warning for it getting any better.
"I-I uhm, I…" Luffy was trying to respond but couldn't manage to get the words out.
"I, I, I what? Get on with it already." Momo acted like she was getting annoyed. Momo started approaching him with a looming stature.
"I just saw this thing and jumped. Then well, here I am." Luffy said nervously.
"Seriously?" Momo didn't act this part. *This idiot.* Momo shook her head in slight disbelief as she stopped for a second and then proceeded on with her plan. "And?"
"...And w-what?" Luffy said panicky.
"And? Where are your crewmates then? They just let you jump into this thing?"
"W-Well they tried to stop me, but uh–"
"But they were idiots just like their captain, weren't they?"
"Hey!"
"Certainly they were weaker, among other things."
"Stop it!"
"And why should I? Why do you care? I thought you're in your emo phase or whatever. I thought you didn't care about anything in the world anymore."
"W-Well, I don't but…" Luffy trailed off.
"You don't even care what happens to this hat anymore, do you?" Momo said in a menacing tone as she reached into her dresser and took out Luffy's hat. She slowly made a lighter with her quirk.
"Oi! What are you doing?!" Luffy said in a mix between anger and fear. He stood up from his seat.
"Hm? What's wrong? I thought you didn't care about this stupid hat anymore, since you can't give it to Sharks anymore." Momo said, intentionally mispronouncing his name.
"Shanks! His name is Shanks!"
"Oh is it?"
"Yes–"
"Wait! I just found out, I don't care." Momo said in an uncaring tone as she turned on the lighter and slowly closed the space between Luffy's hat and the flame.
"Stop! That's enough!" Luffy said as his anger grew more as the hat's doom approached.
"Ugh, why do you even care? To me, this hat is just taking up space. Might as well burn it." Momo said as she slowly closed the gap without any sign of stopping. She knew she had to go through with it because Luffy wouldn't care if she stopped, thanks to his ability to see the future. So she knew she had to do it and hoped that Luffy would stop her. She had enough faith in him to do so.
"I-I just care, stop it!" Luffy desperately tried, even with future sight, Momo didn't look like she would've stopped.
"Why do you care? Just tell me!" Momo said as she raised her voice, making Luffy panic even more.
"I just do!" Luffy raised his voice to match. The altercation between both of them became more and more heated.
"Why?! I'll stop if you tell me!" Momo yelled, the flame mere centimeters away from the hat.
"I said stop it!" Luffy yelled and watched as time seemed to slow down as the fire touched the hat. With his pent up anger and his desperation to stop Momo from burning down his treasure. He punched her.
*Slam!* Momo's body collided with the dresser, leaving a dent in it. The lighter went out, flying into a corner of the room. Meanwhile, the straw hat now rested securely in Luffy's hand. Momo coughed as she rose to her feet and glanced at Luffy, who had tears in his eyes.
"Why?" Momo said simply, trying her best to look unaffected by Luffy's punch. She had suffered worse from her previous training. Luffy, having reached his breaking point, grasped the straw hat in his hand as tightly as he could and proceeded to speak through tears.
"Sob It's the only thing I-I have left of them. I don't want to lose it. Never. Sniff." Luffy said as he crouched down and kept the hat as close to him as he possibly could, as if it would fly away the second he took his guard down. "...And maybe…Just maybe…"
"..." Momo remained silent, her mind filled with a whirlwind of possible answers. The suffocating silence was only interrupted by Luffy's sobs and tears.
"...I'll let you be... for now," Momo said, thinking it best to leave Luffy alone for the time being. With a quick and cold turn, she exited the room. Luffy didn't do anything to stop her, he couldn't, not then, not the way he was.
.
Momo couldn't leave immediately; her heart wouldn't allow it. She wished to rush in, to embrace Luffy, to wipe away his tears and assure him that everything would be okay. She wanted to do everything in her power to help him. However, she realized that if she continued to hold Luffy's hand, he would never learn to grow on his own.
She pressed her ear against the door, hoping to catch any sound other than Luffy's sobs. Unfortunately, there was nothing else to hear. She swiftly withdrew her ear and departed.
Knowing that she doesn't have any particular good girl friends, she went to the one she considered her closest.
.
.
.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!* Momo knocked on the door. A sudden pain surged through her body as she knocked and subconsciously began to hold her side, the one Luffy hit.
"One second!" Momo heard a cheerful and bouncy voice coming from the room. The door opened.
"Oh? Yaomomo!" Mina greeted her in a casual manner. She worse some light casual clothes, ready for bed. "What's up– Wait, are you okay?"
"Ack… Not really." Momo said as another sudden wave of pain reverberated through her body. She wondered if it was because she relaxed that the pain suddenly hit her. "May I come in?"
"Ah! Of course, come in! Come in!" Mina exclaimed, taken aback by Momo's appearance. She promptly shut the door as Momo sat on the colorful bed.
"What happened?!" Mina said with a sense of curiosity and urgency.
"Wait, before that. Could you please help me here really quickly?" Momo said as she struggled to lift up her shirt.
"Oh, totally!" Mina said, helpful as ever. She sat on the bed near Momo and held up her shirt. Momo began to make some healing items. She handed Mina a newly made tub of cream. "?"
"Put some on your hand and massage the affected part." Momo said calmly. After not receiving a response she turned her head to Mina who looked taken aback. "Please?"
"Oh, no, it's not that. It's just... You're acting as if this happens in your day-to-day." Mina said as she followed Momo's instructions, massaging with one hand and lifting the shirt with the other.
"Hah, I guess you could say that. Not so much anymore, I'm afraid." Momo said and they soon fell into a small silence, but Mina being Mina, she grew tired of waiting and asked,
"So, what's the story?" Mina said as she continued to apply the cream on Momo's wound. "Give me the deets!"
"...I'm afraid there's no story. It's just… It's nothing." Momo said, looking very anxious. She didn't realize how much she wanted to tell someone about all that she went through this past month, until now. She started to fidget anxiously, very obviously wanting to tell her.
"Come on~ There's obviously something, so just tell me! Promise I won't tell anybody else!" Mina emphasized it by putting her hand on her heart. Momo subconsciously thanked her for being so persistent.
"Well, …if you insist." Momo said as she quickly glanced at Mina who was vigorously nodding her head. "Luffy and I just had a small fight."
"Mhm, A lovers quarrel?" Mina said in a teasing tone as she continued to massage the bruise.
"It's not like that!" Momo said with flushed cheeks, to which Mina laughed.
"Hahaha! I know, I know. I'm just teasing." Mina said with a small laugh. "So, he hit you? Seems extreme."
"I did something extreme myself, I deserved it."
"If you say so, but what did you do?" Mina said, wanting to help Momo out and to satisfy her curiosity.
"...Promise whatever I say remains a secret." Momo said as she stared with a serious expression in Mina's eyes.
"What happens in Mina's room, stays in Mina's room. I can promise you that." Mina said with a half-serious, half-joking tone. Momo nodded in agreement, and Mina continued to massage the wound while attentively listening to her.
"...I'm sure you've noticed but these last couple of weeks, Luffy has not been the usual one that you've come to know."
"Oh, I noticed. I'm sure most of the class noticed. Ever since the coma, he looks like he's constantly having the worst day of his life."
"You're not that far off. Since it's not my secret to tell, I'll just say that he's gotten some pretty bad news recently."
"How 'bad' are we talking? Like I just lost my phone 'bad' or I missed breakfast 'bad'?"
"Like, I just lost my entire family bad." Momo said and Mina stopped for a second in surprise.
"...Oh."
"Yeah. I've been doing my best to try to cheer him up, but because I never had such a close friend before, I didn't really know what to do, so I ended up wasting most of the month."
"Poor guy must feel so lonely." Mina said as she continued to massage. "What happened next?"
"Well, I read it in a book that If someone is in a state similar to Lu's, then you should break them down so you can build him back up."
"What?! That's psychopath behavior! Why didn't you just let him heal on his own?"
"I wish I could have done that, but I'm on a timer, so I didn't have the time to wait. I do regret what I did but I had to."
"It's fine, you won't hear any criticism from me."
"Thank you. So, I tried my best to break Lu down and got hit while doing so. I left him alone with his thoughts and I came here."
"I see. Now, at least, we won't have Luf being the most pessimistic version of himself. What did you say to him?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"After breaking Luf down, what did you say to build him back up?"
"I didn't say anything, I just left him alone."
"...What?" Mina stopped.
"What?" Momo turned to her.
"What do you mean you just 'left him alone'?! Didn't you say you had to build him back up?!"
"W-well, I will! I'm just going to do it tomorrow." Momo said, a bit taken aback by Mina's surprised tone.
"Tomorrow?! You're not supposed to do it tomorrow! You're supposed to do it after you break him down!"
"I-I just thought that it would be better if he had some time alone with his thoughts for a while! Why? Did I do something bad?"
"Of course you did! You just kicked the poor guy while he was down! You can't 'build him' back up tomorrow! That's going to be way too late!" Mina said with air quotes. She felt as if she witnessed a huge tragedy and could do nothing to stop it.
"...Oh…Oh crap!" Momo seemed to have caught onto the urgency. She quickly sprung to her feet. "I-I should go to him! Right now!"
"Wait! Wait! It's probably too late for that too!" Mina said as she stopped Momo. "Knowing him, he's probably already passed out, and I don't think you want to make him antagonize you even more than he already is."
"...T-Then what should I do?" Momo said as realization struck her. She fell on the bed as if her legs gave out.
"I…I don't know…" Mina said, also at a loss for words. She quickly got on the bed with Momo and proceeded to stay in silence as they both racked their brains for a possible solution.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...What about… a grand gesture?" Momo said, cutting the silence.
"It's going to have to be one hell of a grand gesture though." Mina said worriedly.
"Oh, I hope so." Momo said and soon she began to make her plan. "Wait, since there is some friction between me and Lu right now, can I stay here? It's just for the night."
"Of course! I love a good old fashioned sleepover. Mi casa su casa as they say." Mina said excitedly. She has been and hosted many sleepovers until now, but every one is different she thought, this one especially.
"I appreciate it." Momo said and began making a sleeping bag.
"Oh, you can sleep on my bed, I don't have a problem with it. I'll just move over to the side." Mina said.
"Thank you but I'd rather sleep alone. If you don't mind." Momo said since she wasn't too comfortable with sleeping with someone she roughly knew. She had no trouble sleeping with Luffy since they lived under the same roof but this was probably the longest conversation she's had with Mina.
"Sure, no problem." Mina said and they both got ready for bed. Since it was too late and not enough people to do a proper sleepover, they just skipped the whole process and went straight to bed.
.
.
.
"...Hey Momo." Mina said with a more serious tone than Momo was used to. They were both ready to sleep but Mina decided to not end the night yet.
"Yes?" Momo replied, wide awake. She, too, was unable to sleep due to the nervousness she felt for tomorrow.
"Serious question. Do you love Luffy?" Mina asked without an ounce of her usual playfulness.
"Ugh, that again? I thought I told you that I hold no romantic feelings for him." Momo said, a bit annoyed.
"I see… You know? There are different types of love."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there are a buncha types, but the ones I think are the most important are 'romantic love'—you know, boyfriend, girlfriend, dates, marriage. Then there's 'agape love,' which is basically empathy—the kind of love you feel for a wounded dog. And finally, there's familial love—the love you feel for your family, your mom, your dad, sister... brother."
"What are you…" Momo trailed off.
"So, with that in mind, can you say, with 100% certainty, that you don't love Luffy? At all?" Mina said as she looked at Momo, even though she couldn't see her because the room was dark.
"..." Momo was deep in thought.
"Just something to think about. Anyways, night night!" Mina said as she flipped on her side and went to sleep.
.
Momo's room.
6:00 A.M.
Momo took a deep breath, clutching her bag tightly, and knocked on the door to her room. As expected, there was no response. Instead of knocking again, she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. The room appeared relatively clean, except for the broken dresser, which had a massive dent. She cast her gaze towards the bed and found Luffy curled up, fast asleep, with his straw hat grasped tightly in his hand, occupying the center of the bed.
"Lu, Lu, Lu wake up!" Momo said as she gently shook Luffy to wake. Seeing as it had no effect, she had to take some drastic action because she didn't want anybody seeing them leave the dorms. She left Mina while she was still asleep, having woken up way before Mina did.
With a strong push, she knocked Luffy over the side of the bed, waking him up.
"Huh? Huh? What's happening?" Luffy said, alarmed but half-asleep. Momo quickly went over to his side. He still had his straw hat in hand, subconsciously holding on to it.
"Lu, Come on get up. We have to go somewhere! Let's go!" Momo said in a loud whisper as to not wake anybody up.
"Fine, I'm coming." Luffy said with a yawn, still not fully understanding what he agreed to or who this person was.
"Excellent." Momo said as she pulled Luffy along, hoping to capitalize on the fact that he still doesn't fully understand what's going on.
With Luffy's hand held firmly in one hand and a bag in the other, Momo exited the room and closed the door behind them. They hurriedly descended the stairs and left the building, luckily without meeting anyone. With each step Luffy took, he became more and more awake, and by the time they reached the outside, he understood what was happening, though he couldn't understand why it was happening.
"Momo I–" Luffy began to speak but was quickly cut off.
"No, no talking. Bear with me for a bit until we get to the park." Momo said firmly as she took long steps to reach the park faster.
Luffy, feeling not so great due to what happened the other day, didn't have it in him to disobey or complain so they just both walked in silence for a good couple of minutes.
.
.
.
They arrived at a familiar scene, with the same benches and trees they had seen a few days ago. Momo wasted no time and sat on one bench, motioning for Luffy to sit on the opposite side. Now they were facing each other. Luffy appeared worn out; for most of the month, he had seemed lifeless, but now he appeared unsure and fearful, tightly clutching the hat close to his chest. Momo, though a bit tired herself, appeared determined and composed, with a graceful demeanor.
"Before you start talking, let me talk first, you used to talk as much as you could so now it's my turn. I will talk until I give you your turn, deal?" Momo said and Luffy weakly nodded. He wouldn't even know what to say even if he wanted to talk.
"First of all, I would like to apologize." Momo said formally as she bowed. Luffy was taken aback, he didn't expect Momo to say sorry, he expected that she would continue. "The way that I held myself and the way that I treated you last night was terrible and disgraceful. And before I even begin talking about everything, I would like for you to accept my apology."
Luffy nodded and indicated that he accepted her apology, he didn't say it since he wasn't allowed to.
"Thank you. Before we get to the real deal, let me tell you something about myself. I spent my whole life as the perfect child. Not breaking the rules, always following orders and never ever drawing any attention to myself. Being the only child and the heir to the Yaoyorozu conglomerate, I was raised with the belief that I must avoid making any mistakes and be the absolute best version of myself. However, that changed when you walked through the mansion's doors. I'll be honest, when I first saw you, I didn't think much of you. In fact, I disliked you before even getting to know you. I saw you as a random guy who seemed oblivious to the world around him. You were lazy, disregarded rules, gluttonous, lacked common sense, were immature, and harbored too many secrets. But..."
"But that changed. Over time, I began to see parts of you that I didn't even know I could like, and it gave me something invaluable—a true friend. You're the kind of friend who can be annoying at times but would turn the whole world upside down if asked. See, I had been focused on being my best self every day, spending a lot of time studying and not caring about frienships. Yet, you made me do things I never imagined I would do. You made me care less about studying, you made me confront All-Might, you awakened my love for adrenaline, and you made me realize the difference between being the best version of myself and being the version I wanted to be—not what my father or society expected. I idolized you for it. I desired to be as strong as you, to have the power to knock down enemies with just a look. Watching you fight made me understand and feel the true meaning of strength and being outclassed."
"But then you hit rock bottom. The weight of your suppressed emotions regarding your crew's disappearance and the crushing realization of being here alone consumed you, plunging you into a coma and taking out everything that made 'you' you. Your free spirit, your will to fight—everything that had once made me admire you—vanished, and I couldn't stand it. I hated looking at your lifeless body, at your dead eyes, I hated the fact that you gave up. Seeing you express even a tiny bit of emotion gave me hope, and told me that there were still some fight left in you. My intention was to break you down, pushing you even further beyond your breaking point, shattering you into countless pieces, and then rebuilding you myself. But, after a weirdly eye opening realization from Mina, I changed course. And that brings us to where we are now." Momo finished talking as she brought out of her bag 2 cups and a bottle of alcohol. Luffy realized what they meant and his eyes widened.
"I think you know where this is going." Momo said as she filled both of their cups. Her hand trembled slightly due to the fact that she was pretty nervous about this whole deal. If Luffy would refuse her here, then their whole relationship would crumble. "I hope I'm doing this right."
"So, Luffy, here's the real deal. Remember when you told me that you and your friends became brothers after drinking three cups of sake? Well, I'm offering you the same deal, but with an added twist. If you take this cup and drink with me, we'll become brother and sister. But it's more than that. By doing so, you're making a vow to never give up hope again. Whether it's five years from now or fifty, you will never ever surrender hope. So, what's your answer?" Momo held the cup of sake in her hand, waiting for Luffy's response.
Luffy didn't answer immediately, he couldn't. He looked at the hat in his hand, it served as a reminder for the promise he made to Shanks, it also reminded him of where he came from, the crew he built, the friends he lost, everything that happened in his past world. He looked at Momo, it reminded him of this new world, the friends he made, the enemies he fought, the life he led, everything. With that in mind, he took a deep breath of the cold morning air and said.
"I'm sorry."
Momo's heart dropped.
"..."
"..."
"...I hit you pretty hard, didn't I? I'm also sorry for the whole past month, it was just a lot to deal with." Luffy said as he put his hat back on his head. When Momo understood what he actually meant, she took a breath that shook her entire body. Luffy took the cup of sake in hand. "With this, I promise to never give up hope, okay?" Luffy said with a sight that Momo had almost forgotten.
He smiled, for the first time this month.
"Okay!" Momo said with a smile just as big.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票