Hell
Chapter One: Brothers
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Ace sat at the wooden kitchen table. The ticking of clock was the only sound that could be heard. Outside, the rain continued to pour down continually. He stared at the wall, currently ignoring the gun in front of him. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. He glanced at the clock, reading it's hands at 4:36. He stared back out the kitchen window at the gray outside. FInally, the phone rings and Ace answers it. "What would you do to save your brother?" He glances at the gun at the table, then at a picture of Luffy on the wall.
"I'd sell my soul and kill anyone who got in my way of saving him." The voice seemed to grin.
"Good."
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Three Days Earlier
7:41am
"Oi, Ace! Are you coming or what?" Luffy called from across the street, waving his hands widely. "We're gonna be late if you don't hurry!" One hand gripped his strap while the other continued to wave erratically.
"Alright, alright, calm down already. Keep waving like that and your arm will fall off," Ace mumbled as he caught up with his brother. Luffy laughed and walked alongside him.
"Ne, Ace? Do you think we'll be able to stay here?" Ace glanced at Luffy.
"You mean, forever?" Luffy nodded and Ace stared forward again. "I dunno, Lu. Hopefully. Whitebeard is a nice boss and all the traveling he makes me do isn't too far. The farthest he's had to send me was five hundred miles. So as long as it doesn't go past that, I think we should be able to stay. He pays well and our rent is cheap for once. So, yeah. I think we will." Luffy grinned and turned to the sky.
"Good, because I've finally found some real good friends. Friends I'd like to grow up with." Ace felt himself sadden at that, seeing as they haven't really been able to stay in one place for more than a year and a half. But it's been three years since they moved here and Luffy had gotten attached quickly to the place, not to mention the people too. And even here, Ace found himself actually making friends too, though they were only coworkers, he could see them as being good friends. His hand absentmindedly traveled and touched his arm where his tattoo was. 'Sabo…' Luffy noticed the gesture and gave a small sigh before grinning again and poking Ace in the arm. "You're it!" And then he took off running. Ace stood there and blinked before his mind came together and he bolted off towards his brother.
"Oi, come back here!" Luffy turned around and stuck his tongue out before being punched in the arm. "Now you're it."
"Oi, you don't have to punch so hard!" Luffy grabbed his arm and chased his brother. "Baka Ace doesn't know how to be gentle." Hearing the mumble, Ace stopped in his tracks and turned to Luffy.
"I can't be gentle, eh?" Luffy shook his head and slightly pouted. "Well then, tell me…" He tilted Luffy's chin up, leaned down, and softly kissed his lips before slowly pulling back. "Was that gentle?"
"No." Luffy deadpanned and Ace hit him on the head. "Itai!"
"Was that soft?" Ace grumbled before stomping off with a wounded Luffy not far behind. "So you have any tests today?"
"Hai. I got a science test. And I'm gonna pass it with flying colors!" Luffy pumped his fist in the air and Ace grinned.
"You better, or Garp might have something to say about it." Luffy shivered at the thought before changing the subject.
"So you working late tonight?"
"Yeah, probably. You gonna stay with your friends till I pick you up?" Luffy gave a nod. For the rest of the way, they walked in silence. He didn't like it when Ace had to work late, it meant he would he get home until midnight. After a few minutes of silence, they reached the university they both were enrolled in. Now on school campus, Ace buttoned up his shirt and shouldered his bag. "Alright, guess I'll see ya at midnight."
"Yeah… See ya, Ace."
"See ya." And they both went their separate ways. Luffy was one of the youngest students there, only being 17 at the moment. Due to his persistent fights at his high school, Ace recommended that he just take the GED test and enroll in college early. And after two hard months of nothing but studying, he took the test and passed, making Garp a very happy grandpa.
"You're both gonna be fine marines one day!" He said, but Ace and Luffy rolled their eyes. Hell, screw becoming a marine, Ace wanted to stay working with Whitebeard! Sure he a sort of delivery boy, carpenter, and a few other things, but Pop's- that's what all his employees call him- made it a fun and worthwhile job. While Luffy, well, he wasn't exactly quite sure what he wanted to be yet. Ace heard a few ideas, like maybe an architect, or maybe even a stuntman. As Luffy entered a classroom, his eyes landed on five of eight of his friends. There was Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Robin, and Franky. He had only met them a few months ago, but already they were tight as siblings.
Zoro was studying swordsmanship to become one of the best swordsmen in the world. Nami was studying navigation and cartography in hopes to one day map and sail the entire world. Usopp wanted to become a brave sailor and marksman like his father Yasopp was and maybe to even see him again one day. Sanji's dream was to open up a restaurant better than his foster dad's, the Baratie. Chopper, who was enrolled at the university at the early age of 16, was studying to become a doctor who could cure any disease in the world one day. Robin was the genius of the group, becoming an archeologist at the age of 8. After traveling around the world for 20 years, she finally decided to settle down and enroll in college again. Franky was a shipwright and was often missing from school due to job offerings almost every week. If a ship needed fixing, everyone knew to call Franky. And finally there was Brook, a university teacher who was teaching band/orchestra. Although he was 50 years old, he still looked the good and healthy age of 32.
Luffy ran over and sat with his friends, throwing his backpack onto his desk. "Oi, Zoro, you think I can stay at your house tonight?" Zoro shook his head.
"Sorry, but I'm not gonna be home tonight. I got a tournament to go to." He looked over at Usopp, who also shook his head.
"Sorry, but I'm going out to see Kaya after school ends."
"I got a meeting with Zeff tonight, so I'm afraid you won't be able to stay at my place either."
"I got another super job offering at one o'clock, so I'm leaving school early. Sorry…"
"I've got a presentation to attend to on the other side of town. I won't be back until monday. I'm sorry, Luffy-san." Luffy gave a sigh and deflated onto his desk. "Maybe Nami, Brook or Chopper will let you stay with them?"
"Nami said I can't come over on weekends, Brook's always busy visiting his friend Laboon, and Chopper study's like crazy and stays with his crazy adopted mother. Plus, Shanks is still out of town, along with Makino and Dadan. Garp is just out of the question. I'll just stay at the school until Ace picks me up." Suddenly, the substitute science came out.
"Howdy class~!" The high-pitched voice rang. "Ready to take your test today~?" Luffy sunk onto his desk even more and let out a sigh.
"I can't wait till Shanks gets back…"
Later after School
6:48pm
Luffy groaned as he took a seat on the steps of his university, pulling out cellphone and dialing Ace's number. The phone rang for awhile before someone finally answered it. "Hello?"
"Hello? Hello, Lu? You there?"
"Yeah, I'm here!" Luffy had to shout over the phone. Apparently Ace's job today was either carpenter, construction working, or demolishing because of the loud noises in the background.
"Oh, so what's up? You at a friend's house?"
"N-No, everyone was busy. I'm still at the university."
"What? Sigh… Okay, stay there. I'll pick you up after I'm done." Luffy looked around.
"So I should just stay here?" Luffy asked, a little skeptical about the idea. He wasn't scared or anything, he could take care of himself. He just didn't want a repeat of that day.
"Well, yeah. I can't get off early, Lu. I'm sorry."
"Well maybe you should work late nights," Luffy mumbled quietly. And apparently Ace caught those words.
"Well maybe you should get a JOB, Luffy. I mean, I can't keep paying for everything myself!"
"Well I've tried to get a job but no one wants to hire a screwup like me!" Luffy yelled back into the phone. "All I was implying was that you let someone else work the late night shift!"
"Luffy! The late night work shift pays the most and we need that money to pay the rent and buy food!" Ace shouted angrily over the phone. "God, why do you always make things so complex!"
"Well maybe if Sabo was still here, you wouldn't have to put up with me!"
"You know what, fuck you Luffy!" And Ace hung up. Enraged, Luffy slammed his phone shut and lifted it up as if he was gonna throw it, but stopped and brought his hands to his head. He shouldn't have said that, it was a low blow. Especially to Ace. He put his phone back in his pocket and sighed. He stood up and looked around the dark streets surrounding him. He lived four miles from here. It was only four miles, nothing to worry about. Just four miles of darkness with creepers, rapists, druggies, and murderers lying in wait. Luffy shook his head.
"No, no. Everything will be fine. Just walk quickly, stay alert, and be ready to fight or run. Nothing to worry about," Luffy tried to convince himself. "If I walk home, Ace won't have to pick me up and maybe he won't see me as a bother tonight. He'll be proud I walked home alone at night."
'No he won't. In fact, he'll probably murder you if you do this. That was his number one rule, right? Don't walk home alone at night. Number one rule, and you're breaking it.' Luffy thought, and stopped. Should he stay here? Should he walk home? Luffy sighed, he really didn't want to anger Ace anymore, so he decided to stay at the university. He turned back and sat back down on the stairs and suddenly, it began to rain.
'How could this day get any worse…'
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So there, that's the first chapter. Hope you kinda liked it? Everything starts in the next chapter, so please stay tuned? And yes, I actually put Sabo in this. In truth, when I first heard Ace and Luffy had another brother, I didn't like the idea at all. I liked the whole 'Ace and Luffy' idea. But, I guess Sabo did play a part in their childhood, so I decided to actually include him in a story… So, yeah…
The cold ice I liveth and inside the darkness I love
~roo the vampire