One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim, Mirai and Arata belong to TWP.


Marco had told her many times that there weren't monsters beneath her bed. Thatch had told her many times, mostly times when she pulled pranks on him, that there were monsters under her bed ready to steal her away whenever she did something bad. While she really wanted to believe Marco the most, right now, in the middle of the night, it was much easier to believe Thatch.

The shadows stretched across the room, towards her, ready to grab a hold of her and pull her into the monsters not-so-inviting embraces. She did not want to be in their clutches. She had to run, she had to find a safe place and the safest place on the ship was with her big brothers and captain. But Marco had been none too pleased the last time she had barged into his room in the middle of the night. She could go to Thatch's room, he was the one who scared her so he could very well take responsibility for it!

She crouched beneath the covers, ready to sprint off. The monsters must have realized what she was planning, for the shadows suddenly stretched faster.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths, the shadows were at the feet of the bed now, four breaths, five breaths, they reached for the covers.

"Now!" She exclaimed and jumped. Her door slammed open as she threw herself at it and she could hear the roars of the monsters behind her. They were gaining on her fast. Screw running to Thatch's room, it was too far away, she would never make it. She had to shorten her distance to a safe place and spotted Marco's door.

'Sorry, Marco-nii.' She thought and leaped forwards, hands grasping the handle, shoulders scraping against the wood none-too-gently as she slammed the door open. The first division commander was quickly up on his feet and swept Mirim up in his arms. She yelped, because it wasn't a comforting hug she was getting from him. She hung from his arm which was tucked under her stomach and he marched towards his own door and out.

"Marco-nii, please, don't take me back!" She flailed around as he carried her down the hall and towards her own room. He had had enough. He was tired after having had her barge into his room for several years, he just wanted to sleep, and that wasn't easy with Mirim taking all of the space. It had been easier back when Thatch told her about the monsters for the first time, but now this was just getting ridiculous. He had let this go on for too long. He should have ended it back then, after having thrown Thatch off the ship in his frustration and yelled at him to stop scaring the girl. He had hoped it would end there, but it didn't. It just grew worse. But now she didn't really need him to check under her bed any longer.

She may be his sister, but she wasn't his responsibility right now. He kicked open a door and marched in, watching as Ace lurched out of bed, seeming to be half-asleep. He couldn't blame the boy for being confused at the forceful entry, but right now he was too tired to give a fuck. He hoisted Mirim up by her sash and threw her at him. The girl collided with the boy and they both tumbled back onto the bed, Mirim with a squeak and Ace with a grunt. He had not anticipated having his subordinate thrown at him.

"Oh come on, Marco-nii! It was a joke!" Mirim cried out indignantly at the blonde who stared back at her, unimpressed.

"In the middle of the night, yoi?" She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Back in the day you would let me sleep with you."

"You were nine, yoi." Marco was tired, so very very tired, and rubbed his eyes with his hand. "So?" Mirim argued. Ace had managed to sit up and was rubbing his chest. Marco hadn't thrown his sister as gently as one would have thought and the girl wasn't exactly light… well she wasn't heavy either, but everyone was heavy when they were deadweight, even if it was just for a moment.

"You're seventeen, Mirim, yoi…" The second division commander was clueless as to what was going on. He could piece together some of the conversation, but that didn't exactly explain to him why Marco had brought his little sister to his room and thrown her at him. There wasn't any underlying message there; after all, the older man would glare threateningly at any man who dared venture close to the girl with less than innocent motives.

Not that Ace was interested in the girl like that anyway. She was purely a comrade.

"Marco-nii, it was a joke. I know monsters aren't real. It's still just fun to barge in at night. Actually, it's fun watching you throw Thatch-nii overboard."

"You're old enough to do that on your own, yoi. And it better not scare you anymore either. Jaysus, you're a grown woman." And with one last tired glare Marco trudged out of the room, shoulders sagged with exhaustion. For a moment Mirim almost looked guilty as she turned towards Ace and shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry Commander. Didn't think he'd drag me here."

"It's alright." Ace said with a wave of his hand. "But I didn't know you were pulling pranks in the middle of the night. Were you really afraid of monsters when you were a kid?" He grinned at her and she blushed in embarrassment though she quickly hid it behind a nervous cough.

"I always pull pranks on people. Thatch-nii told me bad kids get kidnapped by monsters when I was little, of course I was a little afraid, it's normal."

"A little?" He teased and she punched him in the arm. "Shut up, I was a kid!" She refrained from using the phrase 'little girl'. It made her feel inferior, and tiny and she was far from both. Then she yawned, as she realized she was tired from a long day as well and needed to go to bed herself. Ace chuckled at her yawn and ushered off of his bed.

"Go on then."

"Marco-nii always checked my closet and under my bed for monsters."

"That was nice of him." It was a really brotherly thing to do and Ace would not put it past the older man to do something like that. Family was important. Ace always believed that and it was made clear to him that everyone on the ship shared that same philosophy.

"Yeah it was." She said with a grin before she pointed to the door. "But seriously, I need you to check so I'm sure it's safe, Commander." He blinked owlishly at her.

"Are you fucking serious right now?"