Note: This is my first One Piece fanfic starring my favorite characters, the D. Brothers. I got inspired by a lot of brother-bonding fics here and they made me want to write my own story with Ace and Luffy bonding when they were kids. Please leave comments and tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: I don't owned One Piece and the characters
D Brothers
A New Kind of Training
"Aaace! Luuuffy!" the sound of their old gruff grandfather calling their names echoed all over the house, as the said boys scrambled inside the closet and shut the door. The older boy is eight-years-old, his hair clean, and he has freckles; his younger brother has messy hair and wide eyes. Their names are Monkeys D. Ace and Luffy. (N/A: Ace is called Monkey D. Ace here, because I think "Monkey" his real surname before changing it to "Portgas".)
The moment they heard their grandfather Garp calling for them, Ace and Luffy hurried to nearest place to hide, hoping that the "evil geezer" won't find them this time.
"Boooys!" Garp called them again, his voice nearer. "You can run, but you can't hide!"
"Luffy, you're stepping on my foot!" Ace whispered angrily.
"Don't push, Ace, you baka!" Luffy snapped back.
"Who's the baka, baka?!"
"Boys!" Garp's voice is so near that Ace had to cover Luffy's mouth to stop him from yelling back at his brother's comment. They hear Garp speaking again, "Hm, guess they're not around… Oh, well. I guess I have to finish this piece of meat myself."
"LUFFY! NO!" Ace's scream came too late and Luffy threw the closet door open and he came running out in the open to where Garp is.
"YAY! MEAT!" the little boy exclaimed eagerly. When he saw no single piece of his favorite food in Gramps's hands, he became confused. "Hey, where is it? Where's the meat?"
"Right on time, Luffy!" his tall grandfather said happily. He shot his hand out and grabbed Luffy by the back of shirt. Luffy realized that his gramps had tricked him, and he started screaming and struggling to free himself from Garp's grip.
"Aaah! Put me down, Gramps!" Luffy yelled.
"Nope! After you finished my newest training today," Garp tells him as he lumbers toward the door, holding his grandson up so the boy won't try to escape.
Luffy spots Ace trying to run while Garp isn't looking. "Ace, help!"
Ace froze when Luffy accidentally pointed out his location and before he does something, Garp grabbed the back of his shirt and carried him as well.
"Thanks a lot, Lu," Ace grumbled.
"Oh, were you trying to run away?" Luffy asked him, rather dumbly.
"What do you think I was trying to do?!" his older brother's calm facial expression broke into a comical annoyance.
Garp takes them outside of their home and he carries them to a dirt path not far from where they lived. He puts them down and he stood straight up like the Marine vice-admiral he is.
"All right, boys," he began. "Today, I have set up a special training for you and this is part of your training for the Marines."
"But I don't wanna be a Marine!" Luffy complained.
Garp chose to ignore this by knocking Luffy's head, and he continues.
"Now, your training today is…" Ace and Luffy both became tense as what horrifying new torture—training—their grandfather has for them. "… Hiking."
Ace and Luffy blinked, and they looked at each other confused and then at him as if he were crazy… er, crazier than he already is. Did their gramps say hiking?
"That's right," Garp continued, bemused at their expressions. "You boys will have a one-mile walk from this spot to end of this path. You have one hour to do it."
"Well, that's not too bad," Ace commented.
"Ehhh?! One mile?!" Luffy repeated; his jaw-dropped.
"Oh, and I'm gonna strapped these on your backs," Garp tied two pieces of raw steaks (that he pulled out nowhere) to his grandsons' backs with some thin rope.
"Gramps, what's with the steaks?" Ace asked skeptically, while Luffy looks at Ace's meat with a hungry look.
"You'll find out," Garp smiled mischievously. "Now get going! You're wasting precious training!" Ace and Luffy quickly ran down the path.
"Luffy, don't you think this training seems a bit too easy?" Ace asked his little brother as they walked halfway through the path. The hot sun beat down heavily on their necks as they pass by a few trees and many thick bushes.
"I dunno, I think Gramps is now being easy on us," Luffy grinned.
Not too long ago, Luffy had to endure the tough training given by Garp: being tied to a balloon, thrown off a cliff, and spending a night in the woods. Ace had not been with Luffy during those incidents and the younger boy was glad his brother is here to be with him today.
"But don't you find it weird that he tied STEAKS on us?" the freckled boy pointed the dripping meat that were staining their shirts.
"Maybe he doesn't want us to get hungry," the younger boy replied naively.
After a while, Luffy hears a low growl coming from bush they had just passed which made him jumped with fright and clutched to his brother's arm.
"What's wrong, Lu?" Ace asked him, his face filled with concern.
"I heard something over there!" Luffy whimpered, pointing at the bush to their right. The leaves rustled violently. "It must be a monster!"
"Oh, it's nothing to be worried about," Ace laughed as he goes over to the bush. "It must be some stray cat or…"
He pulls back the bush's leaves and the D. brothers' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when they came face to face with the most horrifying beast they seen so far. It was the biggest dog they have ever seen and with its dark fur and red eyes, the boys would guess that this beast came from Hell. The dog pulled its lips back, revealing its canine fangs. It gave a loud growl towards the boys, and it appeared hungry.
Ace and Luffy now realized what the steaks on their backs are for.
"AAAAAAHHHH! MONSTER!"
"RUUUUN!!"
Ace and Luffy ran the opposite direction and the big dog chased after them. The brothers went faster, trying to outrun the "monster"; Ace hurriedly tries to untie the steak on his back, hoping he will throw it the dog. Once the dog is occupied with the meat, he and Luffy can make their escape.
Unfortunately, Luffy tripped and he fell flat on his face. He turns around just in time to see the dog ready to pounce on him. He gave a terrified scream and then…
The dog was suddenly kicked in the face by Ace and the dog landed feet away from Luffy. The dog got on its feet and before it can go after the steak again, Ace did something Luffy had never seen: Ace started barking angrily like a dog at the animal. The dog gave a frightened yelp and it turned and ran away from the brothers.
Luffy's jaw dropped excitedly and he began laughing.
"Niichan, you're so cool!" he cheered.
Ace smiled, so relieved that his brother is safe. "No one hurts my otouto and gets away with it."
They continue walking down the path again, hoping to reach their destination before their time is up. They still had the steaks tied to their backs.
"That dog is so dumb trying to mess with us!" Luffy grinned. "I thought we're gonna die!"
"At least it's only one dog," Ace said.
At that moment, three more hungry big dogs appeared and they surrounded the brothers, growling and snarling at them.
"Only ONE dog?!" Luffy repeated angrily before he and his brother get attacked by the canines.
"Stupid gramps," Ace muttered mutinously as he and Luffy dragged their feet along the path once more.
The boys were covered with scratches, minor bite marks (turns out the dogs' teeth were dull), their clothes were torn, and they were very tired.
"Stupid gramps," Luffy repeated, agreeing what Ace said.
"Evil geezer..."
"Evil geezer."
"Crazy son of a bitch old fart..."
"Crazy son of a bi—OW!" Ace smacked Luffy's head before he can finish it.
"Oi! No swearing, Luffy."
Luffy sticks his tongue at him, Ace does the same thing. A small growl came from Luffy's stomach and the boy whined. "Ace, I'm hungry…"
Ace turns around and he bents down. "Come on, I'll carry you. I'll get us to the end of this path faster."
Luffy smiled widely and climbed on his brother's back. Ace carried his little brother as he continued walking.
They saw Garp standing at the end of their destination, a big grin plastered across his face.
"You only had fifteen minutes left of your time!" Garp told them. "Not bad! You even fought off the dogs too."
"You tried to kill us!" The D. brothers shouted at him in unison.
"It's all for your sake of making you stronger," he said.
"How do being tied to a steak and attacked by dogs help us become Marines?" the brothers demanded.
Garp opens his mouth, pauses for a bit, and he gives a sheepish smile. "… I made sense that time."
Ace's eyebrow twitched. Gramps is crazy…
This story would mostly be a collection of one-shots. Don't forget to review. And please don't leave any flames. And if anyone has suggestions for funny trouble these two can get into please tell me I'd love to hear them!
