"...Mmmph-"
Nami propped her elbows on the dining table and rested her head in her hands. Unlike a few years ago, she had grown into a young woman.
She had pretty, playful orange hair cut short and wore a smart blue-and-white women's sailor uniform.
Her feet, clad in brown traveling boots, swung back and forth beneath the table.
"What's wrong, Nami? Why are you making such a weird noise?"
Another girl's voice reached Nami's ears.
It wasn't particularly high-pitched, but it was lovely, like the song of a lark with a softer voice.
A singing voice like that would probably touch people's hearts.
"Carina, Angel Bro won't let me go out to sea again!"
Nami bit into her steak "viciously," then raised her face and looked beside her.
There sat a girl with gorgeous pale-purple hair and azure eyes. She had the cute face of a teen idol and wore a schoolgirl-style outfit. She looked like the sort who would declare, "Let's stay in a band together forever."
"He just won't take you on trips where he's going out to fight, right?"
Carina, who was around Nami's age, was used to this. She continued launching another assault on her food with her fork.
It was a pancake dripping with butter and maple syrup.
"What? And...Carina, watch out, eating that stuff will make you fat! You're supposed to be Lovely Street's number-one idol!"
"Nami, say ah-"
With a meltingly sweet voice and smile, Carina offered her a piece of pancake.
Nami silently looked at her trusted partner and best friend, feeling as though the other girl was coaxing a child.
"-Nom!"
No reason to turn down free food. Nami bit into it.
"Oh? How bold!"
Girl clapping.jpg
Carina tilted her head, raised an index finger toward Nami, and made a shushing