Disclaimer: I Own Nothing
=LUFFY=
Is it wrong to befriend Ace? Did I do something wrong?
This big guy who tied me with a rope while hanging from the ceiling hit me with a giant wooden hammer just a while ago. It didn't take an effect on me but it still hurt.
Now, that he has his gloves with spikes on... I don't know if it can hurt me.
Where is gramps when you need him?
"You know where he's hiding, right? So tell us!" One of the men said, but I just kept my mouth shut.
The big guy raised his fist to hit me and I closed my eyes as I waited for the impact, but nothing came.
Instead, I heard a loud thud. I opened my eyes to see... Ultear? I felt my eyes tear up with joy as I saw her. "U-Ultear, y-you came to save me!?"
...
=ULTEAR=
If those two cowards bluffed me, I'll make sure to rip off their throats with my own bare hands! How dare they let Luffy get dragged by pirates!?
That idiot of a Monkey...! Why did he even try? Is he really that much of an idiot? Why doesn't he just give up!?
I forced my legs to keep on going, despite them hurting because of all the things that I needed to step on barefooted. Yes, I'm running barefooted right now because my slippers got stuck in quicksand just a while ago. It was an inconvenience, but I needed to move forward in order to find and rescue Luffy!
"Help me!"
That must be Luffy!
I quickened my pace even more, although I knew that my maximum speed is at its limit. I knew that I should rest for a little while since my heart was already ready to burst out of my chest and my breath is already running short. I might collapse any minute now, but I must keep on going. Luffy needs me so I must save him, even though I am unarmed.
Well, scratch that! I can go even if I am unarmed, I just need to improvise if I'll need to battle anybody.
"Save me, anyone!"
Just a little more, Luffy!
Then I heard a loud crash.
I almost stopped from running because of that distraction, but I kept on going.
Please stay alive...
When I was about to stop, I saw a person with a big body is about to hit Luffy with what seems like a pair of gloves with sharp spikes on them.
Just as he raise his gloved hand, I jumped in front of Luffy to take the hit instead of him.
The hit made get thrown to the soiled ground.
"U-Ultear, y-you came to save me!?" Luffy sobbed.
I slowly stood up from the ground and wiped the blood that trickled down the side of my mouth. "Leave Luffy alone," I demanded as I gave a death glare to the man that was aiming to hurt Luffy.
He glared daggers at me then said, "I'll handle this. You guys find Ace and Sabo." His friends didn't question him, instead, they only followed his orders.
"Now brat," He started. "Do you know of Ace and Sabo's whereabouts?"
"I don't," I stated in al seriousness. "And even if I do, why would I tell you?"
The guy frowned at me and hit me again, which made me fall on my back.
"Stop hurting Ultear!" Luffy cried and I smiled at the thought that he actually cares about me. This wasn't the first time that he said that, of course.
I sat up and coughed up blood. "I can't believe that I got touched by a filth like you," I said. "Disgusting."
"Filth like you don't need to be in this world, you know where you should belong? Not in this dump but..." I asked him then I smirked and looked at him straight in the eyes. "...in hell." I spat at him.
...
=ACE=
We're finally done transferring our savings!
Even if Luffy spoke up about our former hiding place then those good-for-nothing pirates wouldn't find even a single gold coin! Now... I must think of a way to eliminate and get rid of that leech for good...
Oh wait, maybe Porchemy had already taken good care of him. Heck, he might have had even eliminated Ultear!
It must be my lucky day today. No more Luffy to worry for and no more Ultear to.. uhh. I really have no problem with Ultear, but still! Ah~ what a good luck I have today~
"Ace!" I heard Sabo call my name from behind me so I turned my back.
"Have they located our former hiding spot?" I asked Sabo.
But he looked worried. What was there to worry when we finally moved all of our savings to another place?
Wait... did we leave some of our savings behind!?
"I-It's Luffy and Ultear..."
Oh, it's just that brat and that creep.
"They... they didn't say a thing..." Sabo continued.
I let it sink within me.
Then my eyes widened.
...
=ULTEAR=
I kept receiving hit after hit. It hurts, it really does. But for the sake of Luffy, I'll take in all of this pain just for him. I would never let anybody hurt him as long as I am by his side. I know that I can't stay with this idiot forever, so I might as well protect him while I still can.
"I don't take orders from a scum like you," I grinned as I walked towards the man who kept on hitting me with this gloves as if I have no bruises. As if nothing happened at all. As if blood was not rolling down my forehead. As if I was not about to collapse any second now.
I would fight back, but I won't.
Because I know that I'll only get laughed at for me trying to.
I'm weak, I can't fight back. I always have this... this thing[1] within me that my body cannot withstand and makes me weak. I hate it, but I also want to find out on what kind of power is contained within me.
But at least can still endure all the punches that he throws at me...
Well, I did not train with Uncle Garp and that inhuman strength of his for nothing.
The man clenched his fist tightly. He was probably angered, or maybe infuriated, by my answer but instead of punching me, he took a deep sigh and grabbed his saber calmly. "If you wouldn't speak, then I might as well skin you right here, right now."
I didn't think about my death right now. All I thought was answering with rude and mean comments so his main focus was going to be on me and not on Luffy. But if my death is due today then... so be it.
"Let them go!" The wooden wall on my left suddenly got destroyed. I turned my neck to look at the cause and I was actually surprised to see Ace and Sabo.
I actually thought of them to be selfish cowards, but guess, I was wrong.
"Ace!" Luffy cried out, tears forming up in the corner of his eyes.
It was only a matter of seconds after Ace and Sabo defeated the man's companions. The man quickly grabbed me and held the blade of the sword against my neck. "Give me the money you stole from us and she wouldn't be hurt."
I grab hold of his hand that he uses to take a hold of his sword.
...
Luffy cried out while I just sit beside him with wounds still untreated. "Stop crying now, Luffy. It's alright now." I said as I pat his back gently to soothe him.
"B-But you almost died!" Luffy sobbed.
"Listen to her already, sheesh, you're so annoying!" Ace complained.
I glared daggers at Ace. "You should be thankful that he didn't say a word!"
"Even if he did say a word, we moved all our treasure anyways!" Ace argued.
"If he said a word right from the start then you wouldn't have had the time to move all of them," I shouted at him which made him shut up even just for a moment.
"Then why didn't Luffy speak up? He saw our hiding place, he could've saved you." Ace said in a calmer tone, but there was no hiding the annoyance that laced his tone of voice.
I sighed. "Because Luffy doesn't want to risk of not befriending you."
"Why the hell would he want to befriend me?" Ace asked and looked at Luffy. "And stop crying already, you crybaby!"
"It's b-because I don't w-want to be alone!" Luffy sobbed. "I can't go back to Windmill Village and I hate bandits!"
"Alone? What about Ultear or Garp... or your pare-?" Ace was interrupted by Luffy with him saying,
"Ultear will be leaving next week and I don't have parents!"
I cast my gaze down the ground and sighed. "I'll be leaving for next week for my official Marine training," I said. "So I'll be leaving Luffy in your hands."
"Who are you to tell us what to do!?" Ace complained, giving me an annoyed an irritated look.
I smiled at him and said, "If you don't then I'm going to tell Uncle Garp about your wrongdoings."
While I am weak, my strongest point is definitely threatening and blackmailing people. Ha~ The perks of being an adopted child of the Marines~
"Are you threatening us?" Sabo asked with squinted eyes.
"What does it look like? Nobody's going to look after Luffy after I leave." I shrugged my shoulders as if it was the most normal thing to do to convince a person to look after a friend. "And besides, even now, what could a weak person like me could do to protect Luffy?"
"Weak?" Sabo asked. "You just literally froze Porchemy!"
I stared at Sabo.
I grab hold of his hand that he uses to take a hold of his sword. I tried to take away Porchemy's grip from the handle of his sword but to no avail, he is way too strong for me.
"Let go of Ultear!" Luffy, who finally got freed by Sabo, lunged forward but he was pulled back by Ace who grabbed him by his forearm.
"Are you an idiot!? You're just going to endanger her life even more!" Ace scolded. I almost smiled at how thoughtful he is, but given the situation I was at that time... I don't think I could.
"Just give us back our money, you rotten child." The man said.
Ace gritted his teeth. "Fine, just let go of her!"
W-What...? Ace would really do that? I never knew that Ace has a golden heart all this time.
But then, I'm dead either ways. Whether they give him the money or not, Porchemy would just kill me. "Ace," I started as I looked at him straight in the eyes. "Don't give him the money, just go!"
Maybe, they'll use it better than him. Maybe the money is for a better cause? Or just for plain stupidity...
"U-Ultear..." Luffy was already crying. "I-I'm sorry!"
Porchemy growled at my statement, he brought out a pistol with his other hand and pointed it at Sabo. "Give me the money or the both of them die!"
Ace and Sabo didn't answer so when Porchemy was about to pull the trigger, something shot out from my fingers which froze Porchemy whole.
"It was a miracle, I guess." I said. "And, I did feel slightly drained after I did that."
"Anyway, shouldn't we be heading to Dadan's now? It's getting pretty late." I stood up from the ground and looked at the three of them.
...Later That Evening..
"Sabo, would you like to stay with us?"I asked Sabo as we stopped a few meters away from Dadan's cabin.
Sabo looked at me with slightly wide eyes. "Really? I can?"
"That's a great idea, Ultear! Yeah, Sabo live with us!" Luffy enthusiastically said.
"But would the house owner mind?" Sabo said.
"Dadan is an old hag who doesn't really care who lives under her roof." Ace casually said as he shrugged his shoulders.
Sabo thought about it for a moment before answering, "Sure!"
...
"Eh!? Why did you three suddenly become four!?"
[1] - you know when Ultear was a kid, there is this great magic that is contained in her system. That magic was too powerful for her body to handle so she gets sick all the time, but instead of me making her an attraction to illness. I just made her weak.
...
A/N: I don't know if I'm advancing things too much... tell me if I am. And don't worry, Ultear won't stay as a kid forever! But do you guys still want to make Ultear a DF user? If none of you answers, it's up to me, I guess. And guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuys... ugh... something happened, this wasn't supposed to be the outcome of this chapter. I accidentally reloaded the page while I was editing some stuff, so what you're seeing right now is the outdated 3rd chapter :S
