Chapter Text
"From three points, it can't ever end. They'll always pull at one. One is always pulled between them. One point is always trapped between the other two."
Hoku shoved a pancake into her mouth.
"That's the idea at least."
The twenty-four hour breakfast diner was only half busy. A dingy place with wallpaper peeling in places but always clean and friendly. Cozy. The booths had tears at the seams, patched together by other patches. Establishments like this weren't too popular all throughout their town, but the diner's all-you-can-eat pancake and breakfast option did the job for their group's ridiculous appetites.
Crumpled papers were splayed out on their table. Luffy had spilled a bit of syrup onto one of his math packets and it was in the middle of being patted down with water and dried to be somewhat presentable.
Her best friend's face was currently in the middle of short-circuiting. His attention was waning thin. Luffy's lips pursed, eyebrows furrowed as he hunched over the papers in front of him, one fork in his hand with syrup dripping from a soggy slice of pancake.
Hoku continued to chew, sick of these studies herself.
"So the answer," Luffy said slowly. He rubbed the scar beneath his eye. A dumb thing he'd gotten trying to impress a man beyond both their leagues. "Is nothing."
Hoku snorted. "It's infinity, dumbass. It never ends."
"Are you sure?" Luffy said, squinting. "You're pretty dumb too. I think there's just no answer. Hey, hey, let's just leave it blank and then—"
"If you don't do your half of the group project, Nami's gonna kick your ass and then she's going to come after mine," Hoku said, looking a bit pale at the idea as she slumped forward onto the messy table as well, using her mouth to grab the edge of a pancake off her plate and slowly chew through it. "Dun cwah meh duhm, duhmash."
"Shishishi, but you are!" Luffy snickered, kicking his feet out and mimicking her position. "We'll just pay Nami money not to kick our ass and we win!"
Hoku groaned around a pancake at the dangerous word. She made sure strands of her white hair weren't getting caught in stray puddles of syrup, lazily tugging it back up into a bun. "We're broke, dumbass. She might be willing to take an IOU, but she'll collect someday and…"
Hoku whimpered, wishing she could shove her face into the stack of pancakes beside her. "I need a jooooooooob."
Luffy chewed in front of her, shoveling more pancakes into his mouth. Unbothered. He usually got off on the occasional odd job and Luffy always just had this… way of making things work out when they shouldn't.
The diner was cheap. So it'd been her source of nutrition the past couple of weeks—aside from Sanji's loving meal preps and Nami's fruits constantly being brought back to her dingy apartment. The horrible, cold truth was that her funds were low. Financial aid covered for her classes and materials fine, but existing outside of school came off her savings and odd jobs or freelance work she picked up here and there.
"Maybe I shouldn't have taken two years off," Hoku said, squinting at her stack of pancakes as Luffy reached over and started eating them. "Might've landed me a better job…"
"Nah, you needed it," Luffy said simply. "'Sides, you had tons of fun. You don't regret it at all."
Hoku whimpered once more. "Ugh, you're right."
Hoku only stood at twenty-one, two years older than Luffy—but after her third year of high school, she'd chosen to leave Japan after her graduation ceremony and head back to her hometown, a small place in Hawaii. She'd decided on a two-year gap, getting in touch with old family friends of her late parents who were essentially relatives and just taking some time to herself after everything and doing a little self-searching but…
Hoku had come back and managed to enter back into college without much of a hitch. She and Luffy were now on the same pace to graduating with Nami and Usopp—if he or she didn't fail in the meantime—Zoro was going to school part-time for police academy training, Sanji doing the same for his culinary school and full-time position at his father's restaurant and at least all her buddies were still in school aside from Robin and Franky and Brook.
To be honest, her life was going pretty well so far, aside from finances. It'd been almost a year now since her break-up and the two of them were still on amicable terms and checked in with each other regularly, her friends were healthy and in her life, Shanks and his team were out exploring some new island and there'd be an interview on it soon they could tune into…
Hoku was happy.
But school aside—she was still unemployed and poor. No new jobs had been coming her way as of late and even Law helping her land that job with designing that new program promotion his residency had needed was gone to her rent in a blink.
"Why don't you ask Torao to help you get a job at his hospital?" Luffy said loudly. "You can be a nurse or something."
"I'm too dumb to save people's lives," Hoku said flatly. "And I'm an art major. That's like… Telling a cat to go fly."
Luffy opened his mouth.
"Never mind, stop there," Hoku shoved her face into the sleek table, smelling the old wood. "You also need credentials to work in a hospital, Lu. Should I find a campus job? There's gotta be an opening somewhere… Maybe I can see if the amusement park needs caricature artists or something-"
"But you hate that kinda stuff," Luffy complained. "It's boring. You're never supposed to do the boring stuff ya hate."
"But I'm broke," Hoku said pitifully. "Maybe my pride can suck up being poor…"
Hoku turned so her chin was flat against the table, looking thoughtful. "Maybe I can gamble my way to being rich…"
Luffy chewed with a little more thought, making a constipated expression—he was really thinking about something.
Her phone vibrated with a little jingle on the other side of the booth. Hoku turned it over, making a little happy noise. They could worry about money later. She hated thinking about this kind of stuff. "Zoro's out of class. Let's meet up with him and Usopp for that movie."
"I feel like I'm forgetting somethin'," Luffy said, making a face. "Oh, man… what was it…"
"Answer your damn homework and let's go," Hoku said, stuffing her leftover pancakes into her mouth and waving her hand to the owner for a check. "Cuh mown."
"Nothing, right?" Luffy said, about to press his pen in.
"Infinity," Hoku said flatly, grabbing his pen and scribbling the horizontal 8 in for him. "Never ends. That point is always stuck. Kinda like insanity."
"Like how you're crazy."
"You're crazy, crazy, now c'mon. Let's beat Usopp and make him pay for snacks."
Luffy stuffed all the pancakes into his mouth, rushing out the door with his cheeks full. Hoku slapped their money onto the table and ran out after him, shoving extra napkins into her backpack.
Hoku stared at the last page of her canvas sketchbook with a reluctant frown, a small sigh slipping past her lips.
She'd tried to be as conservative as possible with all the negative space—but this was it. She went through sketchbooks faster than her small funds could afford, but she couldn't help but always put aside a bit for her work—it's what you love.
The rest of her art classmates were packing up their things for the day. Stools squeaked across the smooth floors. Easels or clipboards sliding back into place. The model at the center stood up, stretching her arms over her head as their professor instructed them on what to work on this weekend and to finish last assignments up. They'd just finished another open studio and there'd be a big project coming up soon enough… She was going to need to buy the new canvases and oil paints for that… Shit.
Her fingers twitched. Hoku couldn't help but smile.
She loved what she did.
Even if you're bad for my wallet.
"Looks like you finally need a new book," Hoku's smile dropped, fingers stopping at the edge of her book. The girl beside her leaned over, smiling, "You've been needing a new one, haven't you?"
I don't even remember your name. Hoku hadn't bothered. She made a fair enough effort with remembering the names of her classmates, but this one in particular had made it clear where she stood. Wanted to be some high end artist—was on her way, probably, since she'd been showcased in several galas but—
The hidden hint behind her words was clear every time she spoke to Hoku. Blatant. A teasing curl of her lips.
"Don't you think that's sad?"
"You're always using the front and back of each page," she laughed. "I mean, the drawings are great, but you can afford a new one or two, right? I'll donate one if you're that prudent."
A few eyes glanced over at the easy confrontation. Hoku kept her face even. After this semester, you won't even matter.
"You can afford the tattoos right," she continued with a light laugh, tapping the corner of her left eye where Hoku's heart shaped tattoo was inked in around her eye, smeared at the end. "Just save a bit for a new sketchbook and some supplies while you're at it. Got to keep up with your studies, you know?"
"I'm sorry," Hoku said, it was actually starting to bother her now. "What's your name again?"
Someone's pencil dropped behind them. He stooped down to pick it up, hiding his face.
Her classmate's face flushed red. Her eyes flickered, back and forth, assessing the reaction of the people around them. Barely anyone was watching—who cared? They were all here to learn and to hone their skills. No one needed more drama.
Hoku's lips pulled into a polite smile, revealing baby canines.
"Come on," she said, laughing with a titter, "It's been half a semester. It's—"
"HOOOOOKKKKUUUUUU—" Thin but muscular arms wrapped tight around her shoulders. Hoku floundered for a second, almost tumbling back over her chair at the added weight. The smell of the sun washed around her and Luffy's hair tickled her cheek, pressing in close as he jumped around, almost ripping her from her seat.
Warmth pressed into her back. Hoku's shoulders relaxed, everything cleared. Her lips turned upwards into a wide grin.
Luffy was a destructive, bumbling dumbass most of the time—but he could always turn a mood into a better one.
Shanks rubs off on you too much. She thought fondly, a bit of stupid smile curling over her lips. Maybe that's a good thing.
"Hoku! Hoku! You won't believe this—come on! Let's get lunch, I'm hungry. I've got awesome news! It's gonna blow your mind and—"
"Calm down, dumbass!" Hoku snapped. A few of her classmates looked on in amusement. The girl from earlier had already retreated, saving face. Wiser ones started to move their things out of the way. "You're going to break something again!"
Her professor didn't mind friends coming in and visiting or sitting in on lectures. But Luffy's regular presence barreling through the art department was considered a public menace and had to be dealt with accordingly. "I've never seen anyone launch themselves off the second floor and bounce around the way he does, so for the love of god please keep him away from the ceramics class—"
"Did you just finish class?" Hoku said, adjusting herself to account for Luffy's added weight. She walked with a backwards slump, leaning as Luffy dragged along the floor hanging off her while she gathered her supplies.
"Yup! Nami went to go get a table!" Luffy said happily. "Come on, come on, let's go eat! I'm starving!"
Her stomach rumbled in agreement. Hoku pressed a warning hand to her stomach, using the other to shove her backpack over her shoulder and purposefully shove into Luffy's cheek. "I'm hurrying, but what were you saying earlier?"
She shoved her stuff into her bag as quickly as she could, flipping her sketchbook closed and turning toward the door. Luffy was starting to clamber up her back and she wasn't sure she could support him if he decided to test if she could give him a piggyback ride.
"Oh, yeah!" Luffy said, cheek squished against her knuckles. "I think I found a job for ya! And it pays!"
"You found me a job—"
Hoku's foot tripped over the other, sending them both toppling to the floor in a massive heap of one screech and Luffy's monkey-like laughter. A student quickly grabbed his easel, jerking it out of the way as they smashed into the ground.
"Shishishi, you're such a klutz."
"If it's Luffy, it's probably some weird job throwing yourself off a cliff for fun," Nami said warningly, neatly filed nails digging into the tangerine in her palm as she peeled it. "You guys are always talking about that explorer—what if it's doing something illegal or—"
"Throwing yourself off a cliff and getting paid is fine," Zoro said. He ran a hand through his spearmint colored hair, light catching off his golden earrings. "Just make sure you're not secretly being employed for some kind of drug smuggling. You're both idiots, so it'd happen."
Luffy didn't even look the slightest bit bothered, simply grinning stupidly to himself as he shoveled food into his mouth. Hoku—a little calmer and more sensible after stuffing her face with the cafeteria's economically wonderful meal sets—gaped at the two of them in disbelief, blatantly offended.
The four of them were gathered in one of Grand College's many cafeterias. Usopp was cramming last minute for another exam and should be running over any second. Hoku crossed her arms over her chest, shoving another forkful of pasta into her mouth. Nami leaned forward, setting a peeled tangerine down and smacking Luffy's grabbing hands away as she set to work on another.
"I would not get involved in something like that without knowing," Hoku grunted. Turning to Luffy she added, "If it's drugs, I need to know how much it's going to pay first."
Zoro put her in a headlock, pointedly shoving her face into his chest where his nametag from his police training could smash into her cheek. Hoku's arms flailed around, smacking into his cheek.
"Nah, it's way better than any of that!" Luffy said, throwing his arms out in excitement. He stopped for a second. "Hey, wait, that sounds kinda fun—"
"Get on with it," Nami and Zoro chorused.
Luffy grinned, turning to Hoku—who popped her head out over the top of Zoro's tightened arm—with shining eyes. "Ace and Sabo are looking for someone to help them with this project!"
"Ace and Sabo?" Hoku's eyes went round. A little box of memories peeled itself open, idle moments, pleasant laughter, warm memories wrapped around little flashes of awkward teenage encounters.
Hoku had known Luffy since she was a kid when his grandfather, a marine, had been stationed over in Hawaii at the time. Hoku's parents had passed away a few years before that and after moving around, she'd spent some time with Mihawk until Garp swindled her into being looked after with Luffy…
She'd met Ace and Sabo young. When she was nine and they were ten-she remembered fighting all the time with Ace and Sabo being the genial, grinning mediator and those summers and years had been a great time and then she'd left to go live with Mihawk and eventually set up her own place. Their meetings were scattered in between coming to Luffy's house with the three of them there after school—she and Luffy had gone to the same school for as long as she could remember—it'd gone on until high school, where meetings between them happened on occasion and then Hoku had left.
The two older brothers were great people—amazing even. Funny, easy to be around, always looking after Luffy first and foremost. She and Ace still butted heads and he could flip from a dotting older brother to an absolute menace but it'd been almost three years now since she'd last seen them.
Bright, golden blonde hair. Soot black waves. Hoku huffed over Zoro's arm, resting her chin comfortably in the crook of his elbow. I wonder if they look any different… I think Luffy posted a picture not too long ago and they seemed well… She'd just never ended up getting in touch with them with everything she'd had going on.
It might be nice to see them again.
"I haven't seen them in ages," Hoku said thoughtfully. Luffy nodded his head so hard it almost snapped off. "How're they doing?"
"They're great!" Luffy said excitedly. "Never been better, and when they heard you came back into town forever ago, they've been saying they wanted to get in touch or somethin' but they've been busy!"
"Your brothers?" Nami said, looking curious. "Isn't Sabo working for that big designing company right now? The one that works with revolutionary protests through some of their lines?"
"Something like that," Luffy said. "I never remember the name."
"You never remember anything," Zoro corrected. "I thought Ace was working part time as a firefighter. What kind of project would those two need help with? A fire proof line of clothes?"
Hoku looked interested. "That sounds kinda cool."
Luffy nodded. Nami smacked the back of his head, urging him to continue. "Well, Ace does all kinds of stuff, but he models for Sabo's work sometimes too. They've been doing a specific kinda work for some people."
Luffy tipped his head to the side. His brows furrowed, crossing his arms over his chest in thought, "I think Sabo said something about… se… celery taste from one of their clients!"
"Selective," Nami provided.
"Yeah, that! Anyway, one of 'em wants something special done and Sabo remembered how good Hoku is with drawing and art and stuff!" Luffy said brightly. "I said you're poor and you need a job—"
"Why'd you gotta say it like that, Lu?"
"And they were super excited and hoping you could help them out!" Luffy said. "See? It's easy!"
"I'm not going to make your brothers pay me for something like that," Hoku said, shaking her head in between Zoro's arm. "They've done a lot for me before—they treated me like family when I was always bumming around at your place… I'll just do it for free, what do they need? An ad? A—"
"Nono, dummy, they said they wanna pay ya because it's a big job!" Luffy said. "It'll take a lot of work or something and—ah! I almost forgot!"
Luffy grinned, shuffling around his pants' pocket before he pulled out a crumpled, balled up paper. He handed it to Hoku, who reached around Zoro's still loose and comfortable grip to fold it. "Sabo and Ace gave me this last week! It's their numbers. Said to give them a call or text them if you were down to do it!"
"A week ago," Zoro snorted. "Nice."
"But I said we should all get together cause it's been so long!" Luffy said cheerfully. He grinned, swinging his legs back and forth over the bench. "We can throw a party! Oh, man, we can make it huge and—"
"No parties until after midterms," Nami said dangerously. "And whatever you decide, don't forget we've got a girls day with Robin next week, Hoku!"
"Right, right," Hoku said absently, staring at the two differently scrawled numbers—one in neat, even print and a more slurred, harder to read script. Ace and Sabo. "Well, I'll text them and let them know I don't mind helping out however. It's the least I can do since it's been so long."
Hoku slumped, throwing herself half over Zoro's lap. He shot her an unimpressed look and Hoku mimicked a limp fish.
"Maybe I'll just work in the cafeteria," Hoku said thoughtfully. "I can sneak meals and they'll probably feed me too."
"Sure," Zoro said. "Like they'd let a klutz like you become a lunch lady. It's bad enough that eyebrow freak cooks for anyone."
Hoku made strangling motions at his neck. Zoro just shoved her face back into his lap, folding his arms on top of her head and yawning as she let out muffled screeches.
Luffy snickered. Nami finally relented and offered him a peeled tangerine. He popped it into his mouth and grinned, teeth shining and excitement bleeding into all of them.
"Oh, man, it's been so long—this is gonna be great!"
"Contributing to society yet, you unemployed bum?"
Hoku's face shot up from the second helping of curry she'd been about to shove into her mouth without further consideration. Her face twisted, grumpy and angry—but only in the kind of way that came off as entirely defensive because the words thrown at her were blatantly true and painful, damn it.
"Hey, you jerk," Hoku snapped, waving her spoon at the asshole in front of her. "When I start making it big, you're going to eat those words."
The currently sitting definition of tall, dark, and handsome. Changed out of his hospital gear and classical surgeon attire—because being a heart surgeon with an emphasis in being able to do surgery on just about anything else because he was a genius called for a lot of hours—and dressed in easy jeans and a black turtleneck. The fluorescent lighting of the homey curry restaurant caught off his slender piercing. His dark tattoos peeked out from the rolled up sleeves of his cuffs, the neatly printed letters staring back at Hoku as he held his too large cup of coffee—black as sin because he still had a shift tonight.
Hoku always had to wonder what his patients thought every time they saw DEATH staring back at them on the hands of their doctor before going under on the table. She got away with the snow white hair and tattoos because she was an "artist" so no one bothered her much.
Probably shit their pants. Or just cry.
Doctor Trafalgar D. Water Law did not look impressed.
"Maybe," he said dryly, "if you don't eat everything else first."
Hoku flinched back as though she'd been struck. She shoveled more curry into her mouth, glaring hard at him from across the table.
"I keep asking myself why I hang out with you," Hoku said. "You're always taking your time and then when I think we're going to have a nice time, you find some way to cut me open again."
Law took a sip of his coffee, "You do it to yourself. And I hang out with you. Not the other way around."
"That's bullshit," Hoku said around her spoon. "And ya know it, Torao."
The two were about as far from each other on the spectrum as possible when it came to a small world. As a doctor and about three years older than herself—there could've never been an excuse for their paths to cross. It just happened one day that her art club had been assigned to help remodel and work with the children of their local hospital and overseeing the entire thing had been Hoku the klutz from her art club and Doctor Law, resident bachelor heart surgeon.
"You can't paint monsters in the child ward, it'll literally scare them to death."
"Are you even listening to the kids? They want a wall of creepy and fun stuff so they can tell stories to each other."
"You'll give them all nightmares and it will reflect poorly on their health."
"I'll give them all a reason to run and they're going to be dancing out of this hospital from how fit they are."
And then there'd been a celebration party for finishing the joint project and Hoku drank a little too much—or maybe she'd just eaten something bad—and then she was throwing up on Law's shoes.
Hoku had also been the reason why one of his buddies, Penguin, had managed to graduate in their shared anatomy class. Law was also fairly good friends with Kid—fairly because they always talked shit about each other but still hung out—and there'd never been a reason not to know each other anymore.
Besides, even if she told Law he was a bastard and this and that, she genuinely enjoyed his company. He was looking out for her here and there in his twisted, clinical, at times cold-hearted way.
"But no," Hoku admitted bitterly, slumping back into her chair. Law leaned back in his own, satisfied as he threw one arm behind the chair next to him and watched her in silence. "It's been months now and I'm just barely getting by on any project I can… Did you know I was thinking about working at the amusement park? Or the pier? I hate water. Why would I even want to spend more time there—"
"You're afraid of water, you don't hate it," Law corrected. "It's called aquaphobia."
Hoku mimicked him.
Law kicked her knee under the table. She jerked it back in, nearly jostling their small little booth. Hoku and Law both grabbed their drinks to steady them.
"I mean, I'm not that bad," Hoku rubbed her chin, shaking her head. "I think I'm one hell of an artist actually… I can go back into mechanics and pick up a job engineering for a while but…"
Hoku let out a small sigh. "No, that won't work. It's gotta be drawing after all."
"Eustass-ya is coming back into town," Law said, knowing what—who—mechanics made them think of.
Hoku looked up. Her face was neutral, amiable. "Oh, yeah?"
"Mentioned it," he said. "Don't know when."
Hoku hummed. She played with a carrot on her plate and shoved it to the side. Law scowled. She grudgingly scooped it back up. "I'll give him a call when he arrives. Maybe we can grab lunch or something."
Law watched her over the rim of his cup. Hoku waved a hand at him. "We still check up here and there. I mean, when it's not angry texting—but that's all in good fun."
Law's brows creased in a suit-yourself sort of way.
"You can shift gears a bit," Law said. "Get a teaching degree and why don't you apply as an art teacher? You'd still get to do what you loved while working on individual projects. Quit when you're ready."
Hoku lowered her arms onto the table, her face a little more sober. "That's… That's probably the best idea, isn't it? But I dunno… me? Teaching?"
Hoku laughed. She rubbed the back of her neck, dragging her fingers down the side and staring hard at her warped reflection on the metal table.
"I don't think…" she said and stopped. Hoku shook her head, "I don't think any parent would want someone like me teaching their kids."
Law's eyes flickered. His expression loosened, brows a little less furrowed, face a little easier to approach.
"Hoku-ya—"
"But you know what," Hoku started up again brightly, eyes flashing in determination as she grinned, "there was this girl in my class today—making digs about this and that and just wait. I'm going to pick up an awesome job and come in with my regular gear because I'm not an idiot who blows her cash on fancy materials!"
Hoku's chest puffed out in pride. She grinned, proud as a peacock and tipped her chin high in the air. "Long live homemade art materials!"
"You're the only one who can get away with that," Law said. "Barely."
"I'm so confident I'm going to get a job," Hoku said. "That I'm paying for dinner tonight."
Law looked vaguely amused. He let his chin rest on his palm, watching her.
"So if I went ahead and ordered the deluxe beef curry set—"
"I," Hoku said, using her best bluffing face, "wouldn't even blink."
Law ended up ordering the set to-go. And paying for the meal—he simply stepped over Hoku's embarrassingly fallen form when she tripped on her way to the cashier—and handed the food to her after dropping her off in front of her apartment before he took off for his night shift.
"Eat," Law had threatened, rolling up his window and ignoring her cursing and ranting like she were no more than a fly at his car. "Skip meals and I'll check you into the hospital myself."
Hoku threw up both her middle fingers, stomping all the way to her apartment door for emphasis. Law's sleek car waited in the parking lot until her door opened pointedly wide and closed before pulling off.
"I never skip meals," Hoku muttered, shrugging her shoes off and hobbling into the living room after setting the food down on the counter. "I love eating."
Her apartment wasn't a grand thing, but it was a little more spacious for the great price she was paying. Banged up. Creaky pipes and floorboards—but it held, sturdy and true.
The two bedroom apartment had been shifted so one was her actual bedroom while the other was her studio and guest room—she usually ended up sleeping there when she was working late into the night anyway. Photos were thrown up left and right. Stacks of papers and sketchbooks were scattered all over the apartment. A massive poster hung over her bed of a certain red-haired explorer's greatest and her favorite excursion.
A small television set and coffee table. A sectioned off kitchen with an island countertop. Her sleek, comfy leather black couch which was a gift from Mihawk—
Hoku flopped down onto the couch, sinking deep into the cushions. She let out one long, low groan.
I'm such a loser. Hoku pressed herself as deep into the couch as she could, willing it to swallow her whole and never let her see the light of day again. You were supposed to come back from those two years and be different. You haven't done anything.
Her phone vibrated against her ass and Hoku lazily tugged it out of her pocket, half-throwing it toward her face.
"LETS TRY THIS PLACE IT LOOKS GOOD!" Hoku snorted at Luffy's text, a smiling touching her lips and scrolling down. Usopp sent a photo of Zoro asleep on their couch. Training must be rough. Nami texted her a reminder to make a reminder in her phone for her date with Robin and the three of them. A notice from her professor about the material list for class next week.
"Heard things are turning up for you. Keep me posted." Robin.
Hoku's hand shuffled through her jacket pocket. Her fingers closed around the crumpled piece of paper and she carefully smoothed it back out, staring at the two numbers.
Honestly… she only really had good memories of Sabo and Ace. Well, when she and Ace weren't butting heads or strangling each other about something. Luffy loved them as much as he could love anyone, so they'd always been important people to her too.
Grade school, middle school, high school… Hoku rifled through the mess of memories. Coming over to their house. Running from their grandfather. Crowding by a television. After school runs to the best food stalls… all just classic, simple memories.
Hoku pulled up an empty message, typing in both numbers into a new group chat. Her fingers hovered over the letters, contemplating the kind of greeting that should've fit a gap this long… They couldn't have changed too much, right?
Hoku typed, deleted, re-typed for several minutes before finally hitting send and dropping her phone onto the rug, rolling over and burying her face between the couch cushions. A minute, two, her shoulders went slack and she finally fell asleep.
Another minute. A beat.
Her screen flickered to life with a response. A calm ten minutes later.
Hey, Ace, Sabo!
It's Hoku—haha, it's been awhile, huh? Sorry for being so shitty at staying in touch. Hope you guys are doing well! Are you still holding the three of you guys together? Ace haven't lost his head yet dropping dead somewhere? Lu says you guys have been busy.
He finally gave me your numbers and mentioned you had a project you needed help with. Don't worry about paying or anything, I'd be happy to help out! You guys are like family, y'know? I don't know how much I can do, but let me know. Let's catch up. :)
Changed at all?
Hoku,
It's so nice to say your name again after so long! Took Luffy long enough. It's been ages, hasn't it? Ace and I are better than ever, well, trying at least. I'm so glad to finally speak with you again after all this time. I hope your trip was everything you needed and now you can enjoy a long stay back home. I could go on forever, but let's save the rest for in person, shall we?
Yes! I'm not sure how much Luffy told you about it, but we'd love to discuss with you further. Face to face. When is the soonest you can meet? Ace is asleep right now, but I'll let him know as soon as he wakes up. The lug.
Hope to be in contact with you soon,
Sabo.
Two minutes passed and a second message was sent, accompanied by a warm, smiling face.
Haven't changed a bit. Missed you, Hoku.