Chapter 7
"Burp!"
"Bu-rp!"
"Bu—rp!"
Luffy giggled. Ace grinned. Sabo burped again.
"All done? Then let's get out of here," Ace commanded, dropping a little bag filled with coins on the table.
Sabo draped their cloak around his shoulders, efficiently hiding his stack of blond hair.
Luffy pushed the widow open, poking his head outside. "No one there!" And he jumped out, a thump signaling his contact with the ground two floors down. Ace followed, almost landing on Luffy as the younger had forgotten to move. Sabo left last, his figure appearing much more impressive with hood shadowing his face from the flickering light of torches on the main street and cloak smearing his form in the shadows.
Luffy was oblivious as to why Sabo always got to wear the super-awesome-mystery cloak when they were leaving –more often than not after sundown-, but should word about Sabo get back to the Upper City –or rather his parents-, he might become unable to see them.
That was more than unwanted. For more than one reason.
As it was however, the three brothers had no trouble sneaking through the alleys.
"I'll be going, then," said Sabo, unwilling to do exactly that.
"Yeah," replied Ace at the same time as Luffy shouted, "No!" The youngest was quickly shut up with two hands landing in his face.
They did not want any attention.
"I try coming back soon, Luffy," Sabo said, patting Luffy's messed up hair. "Be careful on your way back."
"You too. I stand by my opinion that the wolves out there," Ace pointed with is thump in the direction of the forest. The one he and Luffy were still going to cross tonight and where howls were currently coming from, "is a lot friendlier than the Upper City."
Sabo grinned. "I totally agree."
"Why don't you come with us then, Sabo? Dadan wants to see you," Luffy protested, whining.
He didn't get an answer. Instead Sabo disappeared into the streets only turning around to wave once. Then Ace took his hand, pulling him in the direction of their secret exit of the city.
They didn't notice the bird circling above.
"We're back! Dadan!"
Predictably only silence greeted Luffy's enthusiastic greeting.
"Dadan! Dogra! Magra! We are back!"
There was a very quiet noise from the left room. Probably a pillow thrown against the door. Some coughs and grunts and half asleep curses from the back.
Looking satisfied now, Luffy happily dashed to the stairs leading to their room, stomping innocently up like an elephant.
Ace strolled after him.
"Ace! Hurry!"
By the time Ace and Luffy went to bed the entirety of the Dadan Family had awoken.
As usual.
"Say, Ace, why does Sabo never come with us?"
From the corner of his eye Ace glanced at Luffy, who was lying buried under his blanket, pillow at the other end of the room from his sleeping habits.
"I don't know," Ace mumbled back, sullenly. He didn't understand Sabo's decision either, but Ace respected it. Just because Ace had no love for his father did not mean that Sabo didn't. Not to mention that Sabo had a mother. Mothers were, in Ace's experience, more likable than fathers.
Soft snores from his right alerted Ace that he didn't need to think about another answer either.
With a tired sigh he went to sleep.
The next day Sabo wasn't at the tree house and only Luffy and Ace beat each other up with their sticks.
Nor was he there the day after that.
Or another two days later.
On the sixth Ace and Luffy headed back to Fuushavillage.
Much to Ace's displeasure, he saw a certain ship still in the harbor long before he and Luffy even set foot into the village. His mood dropped.
It reached a new bottom line when Makino's pub was the loudest thing happening in the village and when Luffy skipped back, full of energy and …happiness.
Still down the street Ace heard the bar howl with laughter as Luffy announced their return. Ace did not hurry to follow. He did not necessarily want to see the red headed idiot again.
By some stroke of surprisingly good timing Ace was saved from the entire crew's annoying presence for some more time, when he slowly started feeling all fuzzy in his head and his body felt heavy. When he blinked his eyes didn't open again until the sun was already on its down path. And that was the good news.
Ace awoke to a bunch of pirates staring him in the face. Grinning, drinking, laughing pirates. On reflex he took a step back. Moving, though, Ace decided then had not been the best choice of action as it alerted them to his fully conscious state of being.
They found him very fascinating. Studying him in something that Ace supposed was pirate solemnity.
"Oh, he's awake," one said, words slurring.
"S' true," squinted another.
"Quickly! What time is it?" Demanded the least drunk. "Boss will claim the bet didn't count otherwise!"
"S' just short of four… I s'ppose." This one almost fell from the effort of trying to look upwards at the sun.
"Four o'clock…Four o'clock," mumbled the sanest, leaving. "That makes… from Jack… to Benn…" He held a notebook in his hands and was scribbling down some things with a broken quill.
Ace got Very. Angry. Very quick.
"Ace woke up," Luffy announced unnecessarily as soon as loud screaming, which hurt all those with hangover plenty, and gleeful laughing penetrated the pub's own noisy air.
"That he is," Shanks agreed easily, turning in his seat and leaning his elbows on the bar to get a nice view for when a doubtlessly steaming little boy was going to enter.
There was a crash. Some impressive choice words and more screaming. And another crash.
Then new voices were added to the conflict.
Shortly after Ace came stomping in. His face lined with black ink where some mature men had played connect-the-dots with Ace's freckles.
Shanks wondered if that was what made him explode or if it was the bet only. He hoped it was the fact that his face had been used as playground. Otherwise there was still another eruption waiting to happen.
"Hahaha! Ace!" Luffy, laughed. "You look funny!"
Uh-oh, Shanks thought as Ace's face shadowed.
"What are you talking about, Luffy?"
Damn, Shanks thought, that was no to the already-knowing theory. Worse yet, Ace spoke in his Very Dangerous voice. To Luffy. Not that the younger noticed, but that wasn't the point. Shanks hid a mix between glee and a grimace behind his empty mug.
"Your face!"
"My face?" Ace stomped with his very impressive dark aura over to the next best table, pulled a sword out of a scabbard and stared at the blade, which reflected his beautifully doodled glare back at him.
Immediately the killing intent went up a notch or two and Ace didn't bother returning the weapon. Instead he stormed out of the pub, which was deadly quiet -except for a laughing Luffy- in a tense mix of anticipation and apprehension. With a sword as tall as Ace himself in his hand, the boy left and half of Shanks' present crew scrambled behind for the entertainment factor. Watching grown men get slaughtered by a ten year old was not an everyday occurrence and couldn't be missed.
Shanks grinned as the terrified screams and crashes and clashes and yells filled the peaceful village and drifted in through the door. Shanks loved his life.
"-did you, Shanks?"
"Sure I did. Wanna know how?" He asked, despite having no idea what his little fan was talking about this time as Makino filled his mug up again. "It went like this…"
Shanks messed around, telling outrageous tales and adding to the truth just a bit, far past the time when the screams turned to painful whimpers and when Ace strolled back inside, talking with Benn, before, once the sun started to set, dragging Luffy outside by the rim of his shirt to go look for dinner.
He grinned, looking after them.
Yes, Shanks really loved his life. And his time in East Blue in a supposedly peaceful village drinking day in day out in a bar, getting served by a beautiful barmaid and being entertained like you won't believe by the antics of a too mature brat and a star struck fan, who put serious thought into becoming a pirate one day, was great. And despite the fact that he had been prepared to count his days once the big brother found out about that particular idea, he was much surprised when Ace didn't fly off the handle.
Shanks should have known it was too nice to last. Karma was a bitch that way.
It all began one day a couple months later with a letter that arrived strangely in the late afternoon hours rather than the early dawn.
Makino took one look at it and paled. Just a bit.
Politely she took it from the delivery man, thanking him once again, which, Shanks noted interestedly, implied frequent deliveries.
There was an 'urgent' stamp on it.
She took one look at the address, before she started chewing her lip and let her eyes flutter to the seats Luffy and Ace usually occupied, but were empty now as the boys had taken yet another 'training trip' a couple days ago.
Hesitantly, looking not unlike she expected the piece of paper to blow up in her face, she opened the rim and peeled a singled piece of paper out.
She exhaled, tense, and probably not noticing she had at least half the attention of every pirate in the pub by now. She turned the envelope, searching for something, then looked back at the letter that carried only a few words.
She paled some more.
Then she looked at him, opening her mouth to say something when the doors of her pub were loudly forced open. By the snout of a bear that wouldn't fit through the door. No matter how much the two boys underneath pushed and cursed with the nice words they had picked up from the crew.
"Ace! Luffy!" Makino called, relieved and not at all admonishing them for their foul language. Shanks, in his alcohol induced haze, noted she even had dropped the –kun she so persistently employed.
Shanks swallowed a full gulp and turned in his seat as Makino hurried past them all out the door the boys had vacated in their attempt to run the bear inside with a bit of a head start.
As always all eyes were focused on the door, awaiting entertainment. Meat in Lucky's hand snapped as he tore of another mouthful, grinning like a loon. Yasopp toasted to thin air. Benn just watched, switching his cigarette form the left corner of his mouth to the right.
"What!" Twin voices screeched, reaching a height that would soon be able to scatter glass. Shanks was intrigued to noticed the voices carried a big amount of terror in them. "Why?"
"The Shitty Graps was just here! … a week ago or so!"
"Yeah! Doesn't he have better things to do?"
"He can't be back already!"
A pause where Makino presumably said something.
"Shitty Gramps!" Ace cursed again.
Then there was some shuffling and soon Makino came back inside, visibly relieved. No children in sight. And no attempts to fit a too large bear trough a too small door.
He wondered, already amused, what they were getting up to now, because there was no way the two boys would give up their food to get inside.
"So," he asked, "who was that from?"
It wasn't like he was butting into their business when she didn't want it, it was simply that asking didn't hurt.
And it didn't really. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"From the boys' grandfather. He said he is coming by for a visit. Again."
"And?"
"It's not like the boys don't like him, it is just that he is a Marine and always forces some kind of gruesome training on them when he comes by."
"Is that why they have such an obsession with everything not Marine like?"
"Yes. Garp-san always says he trains them for when they enlist as well." She said something more, but there was something about that last statement that caught Shanks' attention, and his sluggish mind was incapable of two timing.
Garp-san.
Garp…
Garp…!
He promptly spit out his drink.
