16Usopp grinned triumphant, standing majestically like a powerful ruler as Luffy and Chopper grovelled on the ground below him, declaring him to be a Prank God.
"No one can beat you, Usopp-sama!" shouted Chopper with tears and stars oozing shamelessly from his eyes.
"Yeah! You're the best prankster ever!" added Luffy who was dripping from head to toe with dirty pond water thanks to one of Usopp's pranks. It was a good thing he listened to Nami and brought an extra pair of clothing. But the main concern was the God who stood proud before him.
It was a game all 3 of them played. All Usopp's idea. The long nose even insisted that they play 2 against one to see who could succeed with the most pranks. So far, Luffy and Chopper were able to prank him 3 times, while on the other hand, he pranked them 30.
They wandered far away from the group. Everyone planned to meet up for a picnic in the biggest park in town but the 3 of them had been away for nearly 4 hours.
Luffy gulped. He knew that Nami would be pissed and would probably bury him the minute she sees him but he needed answers.
He stood tall with his back straight and hands firm at his side. "How do you do that?" he asked.
"Hmmm? What was that?" Usopp cocked his ear with a too smug grin.
"How do you do that, Usopp-sama? What's your secret?"
Chopper stood soon after nodding profusely. He too wanted to know.
"Do you really want to know?" said Usopp.
Both his loser friends nodded almost in sync, holding their breaths in anticipation.
Wind blew and played with their hair and upon the moment it seized, Usopp hopped off his throne and threw an arm over Luffy's shoulders, grinning like the champion he was.
"I can teach you but you'll never be as good as me. You okay with that?"
"That's fine."
Usopp knew a damsel in distress when he saw one. He could not blame his captain. The chap just hated losing. This factor made him a promising student.
"Tip #1," Usopp declared showing a single finger pointed up, high above his head. "Is the element of surprise. You got that?"
"Hai!"
"Tip #2 is that you must be able to establish and muster up your best poker face. We must remember that pranks are just little playful lies- A lie so believable, so crafty, the receiver would have never seen it coming and would have no choice but to fall for it."
His disciples were intent listeners which was impressive. If they had notebooks accompanied with pens, he'll be sure that they would be jotting down each tip word for word. But he was worried about one student in particular.
"Luffy."
Upon being called on, the captain stood up.
"Lie."
"What?"
"Just do it. Lie about anything."
"Oh okay." Luffy gave it some thought. "I can't think of anything..."
Usopp decided to give him some help. "What about the shirt you're wearing? Lie about the colour."
Luffy cast his eyes on his red button-up. "... My shirt is blue."
"Good."
Luffy grinned. Never thought it would be so easy.
"Now try again. Try pranking me."
"Umm... Your shoelaces are untied."
"Are they? Are they really?"
"Uh-yeah." Luffy commenced shuffling on his feet.
"Thank you, Luffy. You may now sit down." Usopp's eyes fell on his next student. "Chopper."
"Hai?"
The doctor stood next.
"You were observing what just took place, weren't you?"
"Yes. I didn't miss a thing."
"That's good to hear. Very good."
Chopper blushed at the praise.
"Now could you please recap to me what a prank is?"
"It's a lie. A lie that's supposed to be believable- but not serious lies. Only playful ones."
"I couldn't have said it better myself! Now what I want you to do for me is to tell me about Luffy's second lie. Did you think that it was a good one?"
"I did."
"Me too. But what do you think was wrong about it? Was it believable?"
"No..."
"Why?"
"Luffy hesitated at first, his tone of voice was not believable at all, and his body language was off. I could clearly see that he was lying."
"But-" Luffy started with a defeated frown but Usopp wanted him to listen closely.
"Shh, Luffy. Pay attention. Tell us more about his body language, Chopper. What did you notice?"
"He couldn't look you in the eye, his face got all sweaty and he couldn't stop moving around on his feet."
"Thank you. Well done."
As Chopper sat, basking in praise his attention was bought again when the Great Usopp-sama resumed talking.
"Chopper mentioned 3 important points: execution, tone and body language. Master those and you will be a legend.
"The next tip is-" Luffy raised his hand and Usopp gave him the light of day.
"I'm going to need some help... I know that I'm terrible liar. I've always been."
"I thought that you'd never ask." Usopp felt so proud of his captain. Always had prided himself whenever Luffy sought him out for assistance. It was a thrill being a catalyst for growth.
"So you'll help me?"
"Of course."
"How long would it take?"
"I can't tell you off the tip of my tongue, since your case is... special. But I would give you a week to redeem yourself. 3 hours a day, and you'll be a man of steel!"
"Woah! Thanks Usopp!"
"No problem. But that leads us to another problem."
"What?"
"We're going to need a test subject... Someone who trusts you more than anything. Someone close... who could it be?"
"What about Nami?" Chopper suggested, "She trusts Luffy and loves him a lot. What about her?"
"A fine choice, Chopper! Great minds do indeed think alike. What do you say, Luffy?"
The captain was silent, looking at the long nose hard before he spoke. "I'm not pranking my wife."
"Why not? Don't you want to be better at this?"
"I do but why does it have to be Nami?"
"Luffy, who trusts you more than your wife?"
"No one." That question didn't require much thought.
"That makes her perfect for this."
"But I still don't like it."
"Come on! It's harmless fun- harmless fun. No one's getting hurt. It'll be exciting. Not all pranks are bad."
"... That's true."
"So what do you say? Pass this round and you might have a high chance of beating me."
Luffy took the bait. "I'll do it."
"Atta-boy! Training begins tomorrow. Let's go back to the others."
As they walked back, Luffy had even more questions which Usopp was quick to answer with his arm slung over his shoulders.
"A total of 4 pranks will be ideal."
"That's a good number."
"Let's just hope by the end of all this, she doesn't kill you. If she does, I promise I'll come to your funeral. But think of all the fun you're gonna have!"
Fear crept into the depths of Luffy's stomach.
"Yeah... fun."
Author's Note:
Hola! Awsme Grl at your service. I had another story idea planned but got wrapped up in watching Couple prank videos on Youtube and thought of this. Was gonna park it to the side but found myself thinking about this almost daily. This is just for fun. It's not a serious fic.
Thanks for reading, see you in the next chappy.