The boy sped down the dirty streets, vowing never to look back. He had done it. Finally. As he ran, the wind caressed his hair and gently wrapped around his legs. Freedom: that was what this feeling was. The boy closed his eyes, feeling for a slight moment how it was to fly, until he subsequently crashed into a body and fell backwards. Rubbing his sore head, he looked up with a pout. A flash of fiery red hair caught his attention, and he sat up, curiosity washing away all his anger.
"Are you running too?" He asked. The other boy did not answer, only stared for what seemed like hours before nodding slowly. The boy smiled toothily, taking out his hand. "Then let's be friends!"
Ace looked angrily out the dusty window of his grandfather's car as it sped down the road. Everything outside was a blur, the buildings, the people, the trees, all mixed together into one disgusting grey blob as he passed them by. He almost had a heart attack when Garp swerved sharply and narrowly missed a pedestrian. His grandpa was always in a rush, fueled by a rage that never seemed to go away. He also happened to be the senior commissioner for the police force, meaning he could get away with lots of small things like almost hitting a pedestrian, or running a red light once in a while. All in all though, Garp was a benevolent character at heart, and despite the constant beatings Ace endured under his care, Garp never really meant to hurt anyone (seriously, that is). At times Ace felt like a complete disappointment. He was the oldest of three, and also happened to be the most screwed up. He dropped out of school early, practically lived on the streets, and rarely went home. He also had a criminal record that could stretch from one side of the Grand Line all the way to the other. If it was not for his family connections, he would have probably been eating prison dirt. This time however, he sensed he had gone a bit too far. Burning up a police station wasn't as cool of an idea as he had thought, and Garp had decided to throw his troubled grandson into the Academy. Garp believed that throwing Ace into the Academy could effectively rid him of his biggest headache for a very long time. Essentially, Ace was now not 'Garp's problem'. The Academy was known only as "the Academy", nothing else. Ace knew of its reputation and that Garp had close ties with the headmaster and some staff, but other than that Ace didn't really know what the Academy was all about. Apparently it was highly prestigious, yet mysterious and closed off from society. To put it short, everyone has heard of its reputation, but what was happening inside the Academy was all up to imagination.
"We're here, now get off ya brat!" A firm kick to the posterior was enough to knock Ace out of the car and land onto the hard cement. Before Ace could even complain, the car had sped off, leaving Ace to cough at the dust trail it left behind. Grumbling, Ace got up and looked around. He was standing in front of a huge gothic style building covered in twisted, dark vines. If not for the golden letters in front stating that it was an Academy for the "gifted", Ace would have thought it was a haunted mansion, abandoned for centuries. Garp had left him with nothing, not even a single word of advice or direction. All Ace knew was that he needed to go to the headmaster's office to get his schedule and room keys. Glancing around, Ace saw no one else around the outside of the building except himself - he could very well run off again like he always did. In the end, Ace decided against his instincts to run and entered the huge wooden doors leading into the Academy. He wanted to try to do better, be a good person for once. He wanted to change.
The door made no sound as it was opened. To Ace's surprise, the interior of the Academy was bustling with life, decorated from rooftop to the floor with elaborate warm tiles and carpets. Students walked to and fro, each donning uniforms with curious symbols sewn on. They barely noticed as Ace walked in. The raven-haired boy gaped at the doorway for a while, before remembering he had to find the headmaster's office. He couldn't help but feel excited – he had never ever been somewhere so grand before. His thoughts lingered slightly to his two brothers, Luffy and Sabo, who were also attending the Academy. Unlike Ace, they had stuck with the school system despite all the hardships and were now probably a whole lot better off than Ace. They didn't need him anymore, not like they used to. It had been nearly a decade since he saw his brothers, and a feeling of guilt washed over him as he remembered Luffy's tearful face as he left him behind. At least Sabo had been there to comfort the boy. They probably all hated him now. His family. He had betrayed all of them, and now he was here, stuck with the imminent fate of meeting them face to face after all these years. What an utter wreck he was. Ace sniffled and sucked up the dark feelings brooding inside him, and replaced them with a bright smile. From now on he would try to be better for them.
The students pushed past Ace as he tried to ask for directions. They were all in such a hurry to get to classes that none of them noticed Ace at all. After a while of futile effort, the students slowly disappeared into classrooms, and Ace was left alone in the hall. All of it was completely surreal – he wasn't sure if he had just gone into another narcoleptic fit and had dreamt all of it. Ace sighed and began to wander the hall aimlessly. If he walked long enough, he would eventually reach his destination. Turning a corner, Ace thought he heard footsteps. Finally, someone he could – Ace stopped, frozen in his tracks. The man turning the corner had what seemed like a permanent grimace on his face, and he was… smoking? Wasn't that forbidden? Ace was attracted to him at first glance. He didn't know why, probably because of the I-don't-give-two-fucks aura the man emitted. The man saw him, and with an impossibly larger scowl, approached Ace.
"Where is your uniform you lost brat? You're supposed to be in class." The voice was gruff and completely hostile, but Ace found an allure to it. Grinning from ear to ear, Ace put on his most seductive face, which looked pretty ridiculous.
"Hey there handsome," he purred, placing a hand on the man's chest, "would you mind showing me the way –"Ace was interrupted by a rough hand grabbing his collar. He found himself being dragged, rather embarrassingly to the headmaster's office. At least he was headed where he wanted to. The man kicked open the door to the office before tossing Ace into the room.
"Urgh, what was that for?" Ace asked, feigning hurt.
"Indecent behavior. Now answer to your actions."
"Well, I see you've found some help getting here." An unfamiliar, booming voice filled the room. Ace looked to see a huge man sitting comfortably on what looked like a throne at the center of the room. The man had a large grin on his face, barely visible under a long white moustache. "Thank you, Smoker." The man that had dragged Ace so unforgivingly to the office merely grunted in response. Smoker, huh? Ace held back a giggle at the absurdly appropriate name. "So, you're Garp's grandson huh?" From the corner of his eye, Ace saw Smoker's eyes widen and he nearly dropped the cigars in his mouth. That expression however, quickly turned back into a grimace. "Your classes start tomorrow. You must also wear a uniform at all times during classes, and if caught without your uniform you will be subject to punishment. Your uniform, as well as your schedule will be found in your assigned room. Smoker will bring you there." Smoker clearly winced. The headmaster gave Ace the keys to his room, and ushered the two of them out with a wave of his hand.
"So, you know my grandpa, Smokie?" Ace winked, "I saw the shock on your face when old mustachio mentioned my grandpa." The older man just grunted and looked the other way. Smoker dropped Ace in front of a fancy dark red door before practically running away. "Party pooper." Ace mumbled under his breath. He looked at the welcoming door in front of him, put the key in, and turned.
The door opened with a soft creak, revealing absolute heaven. The room was neat and tidy, and had a huge window overlooking the mountains and forest that the Academy resided in. Two elegant queen-sized beds sat in the center of the room, looking completely fit for royalty. Ace could barely move – how on earth did the school afford rooms like this? Carefully, he stepped inside the room and looked around in awe. There was a small wooden door leading to a washroom. Ace immediately headed towards that door. The bathroom itself was probably bigger than any house Ace had ever taken shelter in. There was a shower as well as a round bathtub, and the toilet looks as if it was laced with gold. Ace wasn't sure he belonged here. He felt like flushing the toilet over and over again just to use it. Skipping classes to go burn some cars? Forget that – he'd skip classes just to soak forever in that grand bathtub. Ace was abruptly jolted awake from his fantasy by the sound of the door opening and closing. At first, he thought Smoker had come back for some reason or other, but as he peeked out from behind the bathroom door, he saw an unfamiliar figure. It was another student – all dressed up in a fancy uniform and carrying a whole bag full of heavy-looking books. The boy looked around curiously, before his eyes set on Ace. At first he jumped a little, but then a smile took over his face.
"Ah, you must be Ace! I'm Marco, your roommate! Nice to meet you." The boy stuck out his hand, a huge grin plastered to his face. A roommate? He wasn't going to have his own room? Of course he wasn't. The two beds should have already given that away but unfortunately Ace's head didn't work that way. Ace hesitantly took the hand and shook it. He wasn't used to making friends, especially not with happy-go-lucky, good students like Marco obviously was. Marco smiled again before dropping his bags on one of the beds. He opened the bedside drawer only to retrieve several more books. "If you'll excuse me, I have class in a few minutes! If you'd like I can give you a tour of the Academy after!" Ace nodded his head, unsure of how to answer such an enthusiastic person.
"Wait- before you leave, can you tell me about Smoker? Is he a professor here?" Ace asked. He had no idea where the hell that question came from. Marco turned around, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Smoker? Why? All I know is that the guy came here around a month ago – he's relatively new. He's taken over Shanks' General Combat class and he's effectively made that class the embodiment of Hell. Also, he is capable of making even the toughest guy ball his eyes out like a baby so stay out of his way and don't get on his bad side." With that, Marco left the room in a hurry. He had sounded a bit annoyed at Ace's question – Ace wondered why. Sighing, he picked up a parcel that was lying by the door. It contained his schedule and several pairs of neatly folded uniforms. Ace noticed that unlike most of the other students, his uniform was plain and didn't have the special symbols the others had. He shrugged it off, taking out his schedule to look at instead. His eyes immediately settled on the "General Combats" class neatly typed out on the top of his schedule. Ace grinned deviously. It seems he had many interesting days ahead of him.
Eustass Kid grumbled as he squeezed his way off of the cramped bus onto the windy streets. Public transportation was always a pain in the ass, especially when it was stuffed with annoying people. Kid hated people. Yet he had no other choice but to use the buses during rush hour as it was much easier for him to sneak on without paying, though it was a wonder how someone with such bright red hair could go unspotted. He glanced around before turning into an alley. The streets grew emptier and colder the farther he walked, until only trees could be seen. School - it was such a ridiculous concept to Kid, yet school was exactly where he was headed. It was all because of that damned Ace – if it wasn't for that freckled brat he wouldn't be in the predicament he was in now. He remembered it clearly. It had all been Ace's fault. He had come up to Kid with what he deemed was a 'genius plan' to get back at the authorities. Together, they had snuck up to the local police station at midnight and torched the whole building to the ground. Of course, they had been caught, and of course, with Ace's family ties he got away with it. Kid however, did not. He was offered either a jail sentence or a chance to get a proper education at the mysterious 'Academy'. The choice was pretty obvious. It seemed rather suspicious to Kid – why would the government openly offer him a spot in such a prestigious school as punishment? There had to be some ulterior motive behind all of it. Kid did not believe the government cared enough about street rats like him to actually offer proper rehabilitation. They would much rather gas them all than let people like him continue to 'pollute' the streets, as he once heard one of the nobles so eloquently phrase. It didn't matter anyway. Kid had already made up his mind to ditch and run as soon as he signed in with the headmaster and made those government dogs happy. Sure, he had nowhere to go, really, but he also had nothing to lose. If they ended up locking him up he would escape eventually, and if they did try to rid him from the streets, he wouldn't go out without a fight. That was how he was – it was always a fight for him.
Kid reached the Academy, and scoffed. The place looked dead. He kicked open the front door and barged in boldly. There were several students running around, and some others were sitting eating their lunch. It seemed he was very late – he was supposed to arrive in the morning. Not that Kid really cared. He walked up to a thin kid with long light brown hair and jerked the boy up by the collar.
"Oi, where's the headmaster's office?" He growled. The boy looked up at Kid calmly, before pointing to the direction of the office. Kid dropped the boy, slightly irked that he showed no sign of fear at all, and headed in the direction that the boy had pointed at. Kid didn't even bother knocking when he reached the headmaster's office. He merely kicked open the door and stalked in.
"Ah, you've arrived. Late, too. You need to learn some manners and show some respect, brat." A loud booming voice filled the room and rumbled around in Kid's ears. Kid grimaced. He was facing a very large man with a prominent white moustache – so this was the fabled headmaster. And so his Academy days began.
Kid found himself in front of a dark red door that would be his home for as long as he chose to stay. He turned the key in the lock before kicking open the door in his typical fashion. The room was grand and luxurious, but it only disgusted Kid. So this is how money is spent nowadays – on useless decoration and needlessly large rooms. If the rich wanted the streets to look less like trash, then they should spend some of that cash on actually helping the poor. Kid was even more disgusted to see a scrawny, dark-haired boy lounging lazily on one of the beds looking at him curiously. The boy had dark bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days. He clearly was a loser as he was currently reading a thick medical book. Who in their right mind would read that? Kid couldn't believe he had to room with a complete nerd.
"You must be Eustass-ya." A soft, smooth voice floated to Kid's ears. Kid seethed. No one called him by his first name. The boy was so calm, too – was he not threatened at all by Kid's towering figure? He growled and walked past the boy, grabbing his uniform and schedule. He took one look at the uniform before tossing it aside.
"Who in the right mind would wear this shit." He grumbled mostly to himself.
"Well unfortunately you must wear it or you will be punished most horribly Eustass-ya." His roommate answered. Kid glared at the boy with all his might, but the skinny bastard kept on smiling lazily. Was he retarded as well? Kid shook his head and looked away. "Well, I must be off to class, lunch break is almost over. Have a nice afternoon, Eustass-ya." The boy stood up and gathered his books. Kid wanted to tear that stupid smile off the boy's face.
After his annoying roommate left, Kid immediately headed out as well. He was sick of the school and how confining the entire ordeal was. He decided to leave, but not before he had a smoke. He knew it was against the Academy rules to smoke on school grounds but screw the fucking rules. He did what he wanted. Plus, he wasn't even planning on staying. Before he could even take the cigs out however, he nearly had a heart attack as a hand clamped over his mouth. He was then dragged into a nearby bush.
"What the FUCK!" He turned around angrily only to be met with the freckled face from his nightmares. "You… you got me here!" Kid was about to throw a tantrum but he was stopped by Ace via a hand over his mouth again. After he had sufficiently calmed down, Ace released him and gave him a giant bear hug.
"Kid! Why are you here?" The idiot quipped cheerfully.
"Why? WHY? I am here because of you, you bastard!" Kid was seething again. Ace however, was just happy to see Kid at all.
"Dude, I thought I'd never see you again! Grandpa forced me into this Academy. It's neat, right –but hey! You're not supposed to be off school grounds during classes. Didn't the old mustachio tell you the rules?" Ace suddenly quieted down from the excitement of seeing his friend and tugged at Kid's collar nervously. Kid rolled his eyes. With Ace's stupidity, he wasn't sure if he could stay mad at the narcoleptic idiot for long.
"I could say the same thing to you, Ace – why are you outside hiding in a bush?" Kid sighed, rubbing his temples. His head was beginning to ache. Ace's face paled as the youth suddenly realized that he too was breaking the rules.
"I-I'm here for something important." Ace mumbled, turning away to hide the blush that was slowly creeping along his freckled cheeks.
"You're spying on a new crush, aren't you? Who is it this time?" Kid asked, highly amused that his friend was actually hiding in a bush of all things like a complete freak. Ace's flushed face confirmed Kid's suspicions. He knew his friend too well. "You know, there's no reason to be embarrassed. I don't give two shits about who you're fangirling over this time. Just do your thing and don't drag me into anything and we're good."
"Hey! I'm not fangirling over anyone! It's true love!" Ace declared passionately. Kid almost choked. Ace was way too much sometimes. Then again, he was a creature of emotions and he followed his heart.
"If it was true love, you wouldn't need to be hiding behind the bush spying like a creep."
"Fine. It is true love, he just doesn't realize it yet." Ace pouted.
"Oh, it's a he is it?" Kid chuckled. Ace blushed harder. There were a few minutes of silence before someone coughed loudly behind them. Both boys startled and turned around. To both their horror, it was Smoker who had coughed. Somehow he had snuck up behind them without being noticed.
That was how the two boys were dragged by the ears and thrown into Smoker's office. Kid had never been so mad – Ace had gotten him into unnecessary trouble –again. The completely blissful look on his friends face as he had been thrown into Smoker's personal office did not help to quell Kid's rage. Ace was actually enjoying this. Kid believed he found who the object of Ace's desires was.
Smoker was not impressed at all. He watched the boys with a scowl on his face for a full five minutes before he whacked them both over the head. Hard. Kid was shocked. He did not expect to be hit so suddenly by a teacher.
"Listen, you two brats. You! I don't care who you are, or if you're Garp's grandson. The fact is, if you break another rule, I will beat your ass." Ace snickered at Smoker's remark. Kid rolled his eyes dramatically.
"I wouldn't mind that at all Smokie." Ace purred before giving Smoker a wink. Kid was beginning to wonder exactly how he had become friends with such an idiot. He wouldn't be surprised if Ace was the one who ended up getting him killed. By the way Smoker glared at the two of them that thought wasn't at all far-fetched.