Title: Acceptance
Words: 1,507
Characters: Ace, Luffy
Genres: Angst, Tragedy
Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Summary: Luffy wanted to be accepted. AU World Today Series #8

So, there's this boy who lives in his house.

The kid's tiny. Tiny like a pebble that's being compared to a boulder, or a tree being compared to a seed. This kid's got a mop of black curls that surly take up at least half of his head, accompanied with big eyes that strangely remind Ace of some sort of small animal. Maybe a deer or something. It's not like Ace himself would admit it or anything, but Luffy was indeed cute. Adorable, tiny, amazing, 'Precious' as the adults say. What took away from this 'fact' was how the child expressed his emotions with his eyes instead of his mouth, like everyone else did. Smiles from Luffy were rare, and laughter was even rarer; but his eyes would brighten up the room and people's hearts as if they were the sun when he was happy.

He was happy a lot.

It was a good thing. Ace liked that about him. The fact that he was quiet and shy only added onto his 'cute' factor, so Ace doesn't really understand when people deem Luffy to be a strange child. His own parents think the same thing; that obviously something must be wrong with him because he's not like the other children. He's different, and he'll always be different, seven year old Ace doesn't know what's not to understand about that. It's not too hard for Ace to notice, but Mother seems to be trying to disconnect herself from Luffy. She stops trying to get him to smile, laugh, or even let out the tiniest giggle. It's a slow process; but before long she stops reading him bedtime stories, tucking him in at night, hugging him, and telling him that he was loved. All of it comes to a stop, and sooner or later Father stops as well. Luffy is four years old when this happens.

Ace doesn't understand, but as a child he can only follow along with his parent's example.

That's what children do.

Unknown to Ace; Luffy feels like a stranger in his own home. School isn't much better for the child who had only recently had his fifth birthday. The children don't want to play with him and the teachers constantly send him strange glances, as if they're wondering why he's not enjoying everything like everyone else, as if they're wondering why he's even there in the first place. Somehow, at the young age of five, Luffy feels unwanted. It doesn't take rocket science to find out that he's definitely not liked by the people around him. At merely five years old, he wonders if there's something wrong with him. It wasn't as if they liked him for no reason, and so Luffy finds himself lying his eyes on the other children who smiled and laughed as if it were nothing. It looked like fun.

Luffy forces his first smile.

"How can I make friends?" Upon reaching the age of six, this is his first question.

"Pretend. If you pretend to be happy, 99.99999999999% of the people in the world will like you." Luffy's face is blank, lips spread in a thin line as he continues to rack his mind around the strange words he had been told by a red faced, drunken stranger."The last 00.00000000001% is you. If you pretend to be happy and wear that fake smile on your face, the only person who won't like you is you. Can you live with that? Or do you already hate yourself?" 'Do you hate yourself?' Are you happy? Luffy takes one long look in the mirror and smiles; it's fake and hollow and feels wrong, but he does it anyway.

Luffy doesn't look at himself in the mirror anymore.
'You're not 『Luffy』anymore.'

Ace watches Luffy change from a distance. Too afraid to say something or interact with the little boy who is supposed to be his brother, the child he was supposed to protect and care for and share things with; it was scary, that he was changing. Ace didn't know what to do. With each fake smile and with each forced laugh, the brightness in Luffy's eyes seem to dim more and more. His shoulders slump and he doesn't seem to be happy anymore. It worries Ace and sparks his curiosity; he wonders just what changed Luffy so much. Was it the fact that he had been completely alone until he started smiling more? Ace can't help but feel a little bit at fault as he watches Luffy smile. It's not real.

Ace feels guilty.

Mother and father had taken a better liking to Luffy as well, accepting him into their lives without much of a second thought once his personality seemed to take a turn for the better. Ace however, finds it nearly impossible to talk to Luffy like he did before. It was impossible, wrong, and terribly awkward. It was just something Ace wasn't used to. So he stays quiet. The young boy finds himself rendered useless as he watches Luffy cry himself to sleep every night; until he stops. It's as if he's given up on anyone ever helping him or telling him to be himself, Ace wants to tell him this, but he can't.

"Brother, do I have any real friends?" The young child, eight years old now, tugs on Ace's sleeve with his eyes downcast towards the floor.

Ace doesn't reply to the boy who claims to be his brother.

Luffy stops talking to him.

'Why are you smiling if you're not happy?' Ace wants to ask, 'Why did you change?' Ace wants to ask, 'Go back to being『Luffy』' Ace wants to say; but he doesn't. He clamps his jaw shut and watches Luffy progress through the years without interference. He feels as if he's abandoning his little brother.

"Are you okay?" Ace finally asks.

"Why wouldn't I be. I have to be okay, because no one has ever helped me." The young boy turns to Ace and smiles; it's so sickeningly fake that Ace almost misses his dull eyes and the hesitation in his voice. The fact that his once bright and happy and innocent eyes that had looked upon the world with nothing but wonder and curiosity and excitement, were now surrounded by dark circles and dulled over time. Ace bites the inside of his cheek. No, Luffy was not okay. Luffy hadn't been okay for a long time now and Ace hadn't done a thing about it. He blames himself. "I don't really remember how I acted before, so don't tell me to change now."

"We... we really did love you for who you were-"

"Cause we're family right? Sorry but that's incorrect. As far as I'm concerned I'm alone. Your not my family, and the people who claim to be my friends are not my friends. You wanted me to smile, to laugh more and I did. I changed. The old me is dead. Forgotten in the dust. Stop pretending you care when you don't. No one does. I don't." The teenager's smile drops, and he runs a hand through his unruly hair. "Go back to ignoring me Ace, and I'll be out of your hair soon enough."

Ace doesn't quite understand what Luffy means, but he can't bring himself to ask. He doesn't ask why Luffy stopped calling him 'Brother' either. He just watches as Luffy walks away and doesn't turn back. It's the day afterwards; that Ace finds the body of his little brother lying outside in the cold. Unmoving, cold, dead.

"I'm alone." Luffy's words echo through Ace's head,

Realization dawns on him.

Even though Luffy had always been surrounded by crowds of people, he had always been alone.

It's his fault. He could've helped and prevented this, but he didn't.

It was his fault.

Do you hate yourself?

Smile.

Ace smiles a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

In the world today, people lose themselves trying to become something they aren't.

The World Today Series #8

I've been uploading 'The World Today' Series a lot. I did one on Christmas, New Years, and now one today. I've actually been working on this for a while; it reminds me of myself. ANYWAY. Let me know what you think and leave a review for me, it makes me happy. :)

Thanks to AikahisakatuSeishi for recommending my stories on her profile.

Later.

-The Dark Crimson Blood