Prompts

Grandline High, the most famous school in the world. A school for the standouts, prodigy or misfits. The only school where theoretical knowledge was not given as much importance as the extra curricular and practical knowledge.

The graduated students from the school were known to have achieved great heights, in every stream imaginable. You didn't need a lot to get admission, you just had to show how much you have worked for your dream, how dedicated you are towards it and how interesting you are.

The board which chooses you had never once shown their face in the public, no one knew who owned the school and who managed the admissions or who the principal was or the director. You needed to have done something terribly wrong to be eligible to meet them, and those who did, had left the school in the following couple of hours, refusing to talk to anyone who tried.

Sanji was 17. But he knew his dream - a rare specimen. Many of his friends had no idea what they were doing in life. But he did. He wanted to explore the ocean, find out it's secrets, enjoy it's calm, battle it's storm and when the time came, be buried in it. His father always said that he was a curious little fuck. That he was too serious for his age. But everytime, Sanji noticed the hint of adoration and pride in his eyes.

When Sanji applied to GLH for his graduation years, he had been scared of not getting accepted. His first language was Tchach, a very rare language and very few outsiders understood it. He knew borderline English, though he knew it was broken and everytime he spoke, he knew everything from his pronunciation to basic grammar screamed wrong. And if he ever tried reading an English novel, he found that he barely understood a single line. Even the kids story books were impossible.

But when he received his letter of acceptance, he was surprised to find that the reply was in Tchach, not English. It said that he had been accepted into the school. Another bit of paper came with it - handwritten, the writing was smooth and flowy, and this was also in Tchach. It said that not being able to speak or write English fluently was not something to be worried about. he should be proud of knowing his mother tongue and English was just a medium of exchange. He would understand better when he joined the school.

Sanji had felt utterly relaxed after reading that. But now, he was standing at the entrance of the school, watching the massive castle like building and he felt agitated. The driver who drove his cab had been unable to understand the destination that Sanji mentioned and it was not until Sanji had shown her the school insignia that she understood where it was Sanji wanted to go.

The small incident had been enough to ruffle his feathers and he was doubtful again. What if whoever wrote that letter just wanted him to join the school and didn't care about Sanji's well being until and unless they got the admission fee?

"Sanji?" A friendly voice called out to him from the side and he turned to look at a beautiful young girl hurrying towards him, red hair tied in a loose pony and black sweater with with black jeans and boots making her look tall and slender. She gave off a friendly aura and was smiling warmly, making Sanji smile back.

He never had been one to resist smiling at beautiful ladies.

"Yes?" He replied.

"Oh thank goodness. I thought maybe I'd missed you. Professor Robin would have sued me. Anyways," she panted to a halt, catching her breath, before speaking again, standing straight and confident "Welcome to grand line High. I am the class representative and your guide, Nami Mikan. I’m here to give you a small tour, come with me."

She motioned to the inside of the gates and took off at a brisk pace and Sanji followed her, hurriedly. At the inner gate, She asked Sanji to sign in on the register. "You need to confirm your arrival. Leave your luggage here. They will send it directly to the dorm. You don't have to carry it around for the tour."

She then turned around to start talking to the man at the gate and that is when Sanji realised that all this time, she had been talking to him in Tchach, not English. No wonder Sanji felt comfortable. Following her command, he set down all his luggage except his college bag, that contained his camera, couple of novels, passport and other important documents.

Nami gave him a very good tour of the whole university. She didn't keep him limited to the high school block. She took him to the cafeteria, the icecream parlours, the various other stores all run by the students in the university. She took him to show him the different college blocks -engineering, doctorate, arts, commerce- she took him to the sports centre - it contained everything from basic gymming facilities, wrestling halls, squash, badminton, swimming to the most simple concentration rooms for games like chess and the sauna.

They next visited the mini museum. Nami didn't spend too much time there, she said it was like a personal museum, it contained exhibits from every student who had ever been in the school. No one was left out. The board had thought it was a good way of building confidence and showcasing even the simplest talents.

Sanji was glad he had arrived in the morning, because by the time they were done, it was almost sun down and they were both chatting and eating some simple hotdog as they walked to their final destination - the dorms. In this short time, Sanji had understood a lot about Nami, she was smart, fast, liked to get things done on time and hated slacking off. She knew the rules of the university like the back of her hand and she was multilingual. He also came to know that she had a girlfriend whom she adored and that had led to a very simple revelation that the school was supportive of all castes, sects, religions,genders, sexuality, skin and other demographics.

Sanji felt like he already had a good friend.

"The dorms are divided according to age groups to avoid bullying and ragging." Nami said, as they signed into yet another gate.  "We are in dorm 8. It's basically for us rebellious raging teens." She winks as she walked with him up the road to a building at the end, the number 8 painted on it's wall.

"So, I was told your English is quite poor?" She asked.. Bringing up the issue that Sanji was so scared of discussing.

"Well, yes." He admitted, looking sideways at her to see her reaction.

"Okay, well, you might have noticed that we are not short on people who don't speak fluent English?"

"I did," Sanji nodded, it had made him feel better.

"Good. So don't worry, you'll fit right in. But you will need to sit for customary English lessons. They will teach you to speak enough to understand and communicate with others, okay?"

Sanji nodded, feeling more of the weight lifting off him, grinning at Nami. She grinned back and directed him into the dorm, opening the gate for him and Sanji enters, feeling awkward that it was girl who was holding the gate open for him.

There was a green haired receptionist sitting on a comfortable looking chair, she looked up when Nami and Sanji walk towards her. "Well, if it isn't my favourite girl! How ya doin Nami?"

"I'm great Kokoro. How are you? This is Sanji by the way, he's new."

Sanji understood very little of the conversation, seeing as to how it took place in English. He heard his name though so he smiled warmly at the elderly lady. She grinned back and said something to him, to which Nami replied.

They continued talking for a couple of minutes more before the receptionist started typing on her screen, she then spoke a single word "Zoro."

Nami nodded and turned to look at Sanji. "You have room 25, your roommate is Zoro. He's a good friend of mine."

Sanji nodded at all the information, "thank you so much." He whispered as she pointed him to sign on more papers.

"That's alright."

The receptionist too smiled at him and handed him a card key, his name written on it in a beautiful cursive.

"Thank you." He said, in English, his accent so thick and heavy that he was sure that the lady didn't understand a word he said but she seemed to get the gist and nodded.

"Floor two then, Sanji. I believe your stuff is already up there. Zoro might be expecting you."

They moved to the elevator and Sanji noticed a near deserted common room. Nami noticed this and informed him that since the new session doesn't start for another 4 days, not many students have returned to the boarding. Standing in the elevator, Nami and Sanji exchange their contact details and Nami tells him he is free to contact her whenever he wants to.

The ding announces their arrival on the second floor and The duo make their way to the fifth room on the right. Nami knocks smartly, "Zoro? Your roommate is here."  She calls out.

Sanji hears someone respond and there is a small sound of boot shuffling before the door clicks open to reveal a topless, fairly muscled boy, green hair, tan skin with an expression of mild interest painted over his face.

Words escape Sanji's lips before he can stop, "fuck, you're hot!"

The words for someone used to listening to English phonetics, would sound harsh. Somewhat like a sudden throw of a knife to cut rocks or like the epiglottis was taking a little more force than necessary to say those words, even in Tchach. A racist would call it German, only cruder and harsher and to Zoro, of course, that is exactly how it sounded.

Looking offended, he raised a brow before speaking, "excuse me?"

His English came out fluent, though with a touch of another accent and Sanji started, realising how he might have sounded just two seconds ago. He looked at Zoro aghast, then at Nami who was looking at him with wide eyes, clearly having understood what he said but unsure of intervening. He looked back at Zoro, mouth agape, feeling his defences gear up.

"Nothing." He said, this time in English and again, the accent was so heavy that it made no sense to Zoro. Sanji looked around the well built boy to see that yes, his stuff was indeed set up inside.

"Excuse me," he muttered, making Zoro's face look even more confused as he slid in, avoiding touching Zoro, feeling embarrassed and bad about his language.

Zoro looked at the blonde enter then at Nami who was smiling. She shook her head, "his English is weak. Weaker than I expected of course. But he will be fine.. He understands tit bits. Just take good care of him. I'll come again in 3 hours, let's eat together."

Tbc