Luffy X Reader Angst - Blog Posts

Is This Love?

Luffy x Male Reader. Angst. Post Jinbe. 1919 words. Slow-ish burn. Part two, Part three, Part four

Desc: You confess to Luffy then go through the aftermath of what you did.

Late at night, under the stars, and sleep deprived.

“Luffy?”

“Hm?”

“I think I’m in love with you.”

That is how this started. A sudden confession under these conditions while Luffy was on watch duty and you stayed with him since you couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was the tiredness you felt that made you spill it, or the inability to keep it inside any longer; or maybe it was both. That doesn’t matter too much now.

“...” Luffy is silent, brain processing what happened while he stares at you. “You love me?” He asks.

“In love with you. Like a lover loves their lover.” Laying it out there so even he couldn’t misunderstand is how you continue. He continues to stare, examining you before looking back up at the stars and resting his chin on his knees.

“Weird.” The captain states, “You’re being weird, (Y/n).” not in a cruel way. Just an observation, something to point out like you ate bananas with ketchup. What is he supposed to say to that? It was so random to him, so he stays silent. Your head drops a bit, he wasn’t cruel, not on purpose, but the nonchalant rejection hurts in a different way. Then again, you didn’t expect much. He’s never shown interest in those things on his own. You almost want to apologize, but choose silence, it’s better to let things pass now. You rest your hands on the floor beside you. The stars and moon shine brightly tonight, as if they shined brighter than usual just to comfort you through this.

——————————

Things didn’t change, Luffy is still your captain and you his crewmate. He doesn’t mention what you said nor does he act differently around you. At first.

“...” Quiet. He’s staring, you can feel it. You look up and the two of you meet eyes. He doesn’t break contact though and you end up just going back to what you were doing. No smiles, no laughter. Maybe this did ruin something, but it’s not like you can take it back.

_________________

Again, during snack time, he acts off. Staring then slowly reaching a hand over to your food while keeping his eyes on you. It’s making you anxious, you feel like a wild animal being approached. You can’t tell what he’s thinking, if he is thinking anything, while he does this. However, you gently push his hand away. The action makes him frown, looking almost… confused. Then, he speaks.

“I thought you were in love with me.” Luffy says and you freeze along with the other shocked crewmembers around.

“Luffy!?” You’re shocked as well, he just said it, just put your feelings out there.

“You’re in love with me, but I can’t have some?” He asks with a tilt of his head, is that why he was staring at you? That gets more people frozen, except for Robin, who frowns a bit after a second.

“L-Luffy-” Usopp manages to start before you stand up, tossing the snack on Luffy’s lap and entering the Sunny. Maybe they’re speaking about you, about what just happened, but you can’t hear it right now. You go into the men’s quarters and sit on your bed, putting your head in your hands. You had thought he’d forget about it, and even if he didn’t that he wouldn’t mention it, but he did. You should’ve told him to keep it secret, but once again it’s too late. This sucks, you should’ve just beared with keeping it in.

(Luffy’s POV)

Luffy looks down at the snack on his lap, then up at his crewmates. Nami clenches her teeth before yelling. “Luffy you IDIOT! Why did you say that?” The captain tilts his head in confusion again.

“But he does, he said it.”

“That’s not the point…” The navigator says with a sigh before turning around and rubbing her temples. “Gods, I’m getting a headache.” Jinbe shakes his head in disapproval.

“What you did was insensitive, Luffy.” The fishman explains while Robin nods. He doesn’t get what he did. You love him, why would you keep it secret? It’s not like he’s gross enough that you should be ashamed of loving him, right? Yet you were silent no matter how much Luffy stared at you, no blushes or shyness, no signs of love. You didn’t even let him have your snack until you left.

‘Hammock cooked and gave me stuff all the time…’ He thinks to himself, yet he was rejected your snack and is now admonished for being confused. You don’t act like Sanji fawning over women or Hancock fawning over him. “I don’t get it.” Everyone lets out a collective sigh. Why did you have to fall for this idiot? They consider scolding him more but stop when Luffy looks down at the snack, he’s thinking. He isn’t taking this as lightly as they thought at first. “I love all you guys and I’m not like that.”

“Not everyone wants to let out their love so openly.” Jinbe takes the role of explaining to the captain. “Romantic feelings cause more anxiousness as well.” Anxiousness.. would he feel anxious if he was in love with someone like that? He takes a bite of the snack and reaches for his hat, putting it on his head for comfort. Why’s it so complicated? Plus, you’re a guy, but you got.. shy? Was it shy? He thinks back on his brothers, of all the men he grew up with, were they ever… shy? Because of romantic love for someone? He’s starting to get a headache of his own, lost in thought as he hums. Luffy cares about you so much, he wants to understand, but he doesn’t know. He can’t gatling his way out of this.

“Luffy.” Robin’s smooth voice gently breaks him from his thoughts, looking down at him. “Imagine if you told me you were hiding snacks somewhere, and wanted to have a picnic with just us two with them, but I refused. Then later I suddenly mentioned where you hid your food and now everyone knows where it is. You didn’t get the picnic, and I told everyone what you told me.”

“He didn’t tell me to keep it a secret though.” He points out and Robin shakes her head softly.

“That he may have messed up on, but even so it’s common sense to someone that it’d be a secret. Even if you forgot to tell me not to reveal your hiding spot you’d still be upset, wouldn't you?” The archeologist continues to explain. The metaphor is helping, though Luffy wouldn’t know why he’d want to have a picnic with just Robin and not everyone else; but he would dislike it if she refused and snitched. He continues to rack his untrained brain, then flops onto his side and shoves the rest of the snack into his mouth. It doesn’t taste as good anymore. The Strawhats stare at their captain. How pitiful for the both of you.

(Your POV)

That night, you sleep outside. The men’s quarters house every guy, including Luffy, so it would just feel too awkward to be in there. It’s worth the sacrifice of being a bit more uncomfortable outside than trying to get some shut-eye directly after what happened. It’s still cold though, and windy, maybe it’ll be better in the crow’s nest. You go up to the crow’s nest and find Zoro training, he does sleep rather late. You don’t bother to announce your presence, he already knows. “The idiot keeping you up?” He asks while swinging a large metal bar with weights attached.

“Not.. sound wise.” You mumble, hopping onto the wooden floor. It’s not windy in here, better.

“I know. It’s not like I'm a love expert but I know enough not to blurt out someone else’s feelings in front of a crowd of people, even if they’re other friends.” He puts the bar down and grabs a cloth to wipe his forehead with.

“Common sense just isn’t common with him, unfortunately. Don’t know how I didn’t think of having to tell him not to blurt it out. My fault, really.” You talk while grabbing a weight. Pretty heavy.

“This one should be better” He says before stuffing another into your hands. It’s even heavier. “Though it depends on what type of workout you’re doing.”

“Late to be doing a full workout.” It’s way past dark out.

“Late for you to be awake despite not being on nightwatch. It’s 2am.” The swordsman points out while motioning with his head to the clock. He makes a good argument. You grab another heavy one and place it onto a bench press bar. “Starting out strong, stretch first.” You shake your head, you’ll be fine. You just need to get your stress out. Zoro sighs and walks over to spot you while you lay down. You lift the bar up off the hooks and slowly bring it down, then back up.

One

Is it really your fault? For not telling Luffy to keep it secret? He should’ve known, but maybe it was a mistake to tell him at all.

Two

You acknowledged before, during, and after telling him that he’d never shown that kind of interest in anyone, much less a man; yet you still did it. Even clarified so you had no way to weasel your way out of it.

Three

Then again, you haven’t known him for his entire life. He could’ve had a crush when he was younger. A nice girl, or boy, or book character. He doesn’t have any books in the Sunny library but someone could’ve read to him when he was little.

Four

He knows Shanks, said it was when he was little. Shanks is pretty popular. Did Shanks ever tell him about love? Was there ever a chance for you? Even a semblance of one?

…Five

It could be that you’re the dumbass that confessed to someone that could never be interested. You’re not even the best bachelor around. Plus, Luffy thinks of you as a friend.

Six, seven, eight

Thought of you as one. You’re the asshole that took a friendship and tried to turn it into something it’s not. You betrayed his trust. Good crewmate, you aren’t even a good friend.

Nine, ten, eleven

“You’re going too fast.”

You fucked it all up. Everything. It’s never going to be the same. You’re going to be known as the loser on the crew that confessed and got rejected by the captain like nothing forever.

Twelve, thirteen

Slip

“Ah.” You lost your grip. Before the bar can fall on you it’s caught by a strong hand.

“I told you you were going too fast. It doesn’t even help at that speed.” Zoro places the bar back onto the hooks. “You’re just hurting yourself at that point. Stop thinking so much.” You sit up, shaking your arms a bit. You were thinking too much. You’re thinking too much about everything, you doubt Luffy is even thinking so much about this and he’s the one you forced a confession on. Though he is Luffy, not thinking is pretty much what he’s known for besides being so effortlessly good. You sit up and roll your shoulders. You can already feel you’re going to be sore. Even if it wasn’t a lot, going so fast from attempting to sleep to benching heavy; and with no stretching; is gonna mess you up. You look down at your hands while Zoro puts the weights away.

“Dumbass.” You messed up.

Don't freak out! This isn't ending on a cliffhanger. This is gonna be a multi part series since I felt like it, kinda weird how both my multiparts (for now) have ended up being Luffy but he is my fav character tbf. I already have the second chapter partially written. Don't know when i'll finish it though, my new class is kinda rough. Still, I have a good grasp on it and I honestly do the best creating media when avoiding doing other things so this may be a blessing in disguise. Anyway hope you enjoyed.

Part two