Here is chapter 10! I hope that you like it! I really enjoyed writing this chapter (especially the letter). Thank you for all of the favs, alerts and reviews! I'm glad that you're all enjoying this fanfic so far ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, Oda does. I do however own the plot of this story.

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Sabo's POV:

It turned out that we would have to put in order all of the books and things that Smoker had in his room. It wasn't too bad, considering what he usually made students do, but it was still something that would take hours to do. The room was an absolute mess. It was a wonder how something could be in this state. It had been obvious that Smoker had been planning to make us do something else at the start though, but he hadn't managed to do it because of a sudden call he got to his Den Den Mushi from the government. He muttered something about a band and went out of the room, probably having to go to take care of the leader of a band or something similar. I couldn't help but to be a bit worried for Ace then, but I knew that he would be alright.

Smoker had told us to put in order the groups starting by the category and then by the name of the author and then the title. It sounded easy, but taking into consideration the ridiculous amount of books that he had inside here this view was completely wrong. Immediately after going inside the room Luffy and I had decided to first pile the books by category and author and that we would take care of the more specific order as we placed them on their respective shelves. This again seemed quite easy, but the already dirty floor now was covered with piles of books everywhere, and it was hard to even walk around the room. Just what had I done to deserve this?

Ever since I had entered the room there had been an uncomfortable and quite awkward silence coming from us two. I wanted to talk to Luffy and confirm my suspicions of him and question him about that letter that he surely had written and told Vivi to give to Ace. I was dying to say something about this, but the uncomfortable silence was stopping me from doing so. We had already been about half an hour in complete silence and I couldn't stop thinking of ways to break the deafening silence that was already starting to make me go crazy. It hadn't been too bothersome at first, but now was another thing.

"So, why did you start running away from me yesterday?" I suddenly asked Luffy out of the blue.

He didn't reply for some time, and it was plain obvious that he was very uncomfortable now due to the question that I had just asked. The kid couldn't lie, and just like I had discovered it and now knew I was sure that he knew very well that he couldn't lie.

"Not because I wanted to avoid talking about what you wanted to talk to me about or anything" He suddenly replied with that tone of voice that he had used earlier.

I looked at him with shock. Why had he just confessed the true motive? Was he stupid or something? I stared at him with that face that directly told him that 'Now I know the truth, continue talking'.

"I-I'm serious!" He said with quite a desperate tone of voice.

I laughed. "Sure you do" I said with a joking tone of voice.

He stuttered and tried to explain himself and get away from the whole topic several times, but he didn't really manage to do this and I just continued talking.

"I already know that you were the one that danced with Ace you know" I then said.

Luffy sighed. "Was it that obvious?" He asked with a defeated tone of voice as he looked away and sat down on the floor, on top of a pile of books.

I laughed again. "Apparently not, since Ace is as clueless as ever" I said.

So he really was the one that had danced with Ace. I knew it. It had to be him; no other person could have been the one that had danced with Ace. He didn't seem too happy about it. I sat down beside near him, on top of another pile of books.

"Ace is going to be so shocked when he knows that it was you after all" I then muttered.

Luffy immediately turned around and then grabbed me by my shirt with a surprising amount of strength.

"You can't tell him!" He said "You can't tell him!" He said with quite a desperate tone of voice.

"Why shouldn't I?" I quickly asked back.

"You said that you owed me one!" He quickly replied.

I was shocked by this. I hadn't expected him to say this. "I did, but I didn't mean it like-" I started saying.

"But you did!" He quickly said.

He was looking straight into my eyes, showing a strange emotion. The way in which he had spoken and that desperation... he couldn't be in love with Ace right?

"Your eyes..." I muttered "You're in love with him aren't you?" I said with a shocked tone of voice.

Luffy looked away, not answering. I could see a faint blush on his cheeks and again that look that showed that he hadn't wanted me to discover this. Not me or anyone else.

"Why don't you then tell him? You know as well as me how he has been and if you well, er, love him it would be the best thing to do" I quickly said.

"Just don't tell him!" He just replied.

"Okay, okay. I won't tell him, but you know that he will end up discovering it. This just means that I'm ahead of him, not that he will not end up knowing" I said.

"I know but... I know that I am not what he expects me to be" He started saying "and it is just a game for him, while it is serious for me. I know that he doesn't feel the same way, not now and will definitely will not feel the same way when he discovers the truth" He then finished saying with a sad tone of voice.

I sighed. "I know" I said.

As hard it was to admit it I knew that it was true. This was just a game to Ace.

"What did you write in that letter though?" I suddenly asked him.

He was silent for some time before answering. "To forget about me" He then replied quickly as he got up and went back to ordering the books.

I did the same thing. "It might be a game a game to him, but he won't do that" I said with a chuckle.

A slightly sad grin appeared on his face. "I know" He just said.

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Ace's POV:

I had been walking around the corridors for quite a bit of time. I was sure that Sabo was already at Smoker's office. I had wanted to go directly to where the secret passage and exit that led out of the school was at, but I had found that for some reason there were quite a lot of students and teachers walking around the school. I wasn't wearing the permitted clothes at the school, and this meant that if anyone saw me dressed like this it wouldn't only cause immediate suspicion but also grant me an immediate detention. I was wearing the clothes that I felt most comfortable with, but saying this would have no effect on what the people thought.

I was starting to get nervous and quite impatient. I wanted to get as soon as possible to that secret passage, but I was being forced to go through longer and emptier corridors and to wait for some others to be deserted. It was a complete pain, but it was the only thing that I could do if I wanted to get outside.

More minutes passed, and I slowly managed to get closer and closer to the hidden passage. I couldn't help but think of just what Sabo could be doing in that detention, and I chuckled as I thought about all of the possibilities. Smoker was famous for not being too nice to his students, and all of the students knew very well that all of the things that were told about him were generally true. My thoughts started wandering off, ending back again on Thatch's death and what had happened. The smile that had been decorating my lips soon disappeared completely and a frown appeared instead. That man would pay for what he had done, and I would make sure that he did.

"Ace!" I suddenly heard someone shout from behind me.

I turned around and saw Vivi, who was running towards me with a letter on her hands. What could she possibly want?

I smiled lightly. "Hi Vivi" I said respectfully. She was my cousin, and probably the only one that I trusted and was comfortable around.

Viv stopped running once she was right in front of me, and she didn't say something for a while as she recovered her breath. Just for how long had she been running?

"I wanted to give you this" She quickly said as she handed me that letter.

I looked at her for several moments, wondering just what she wanted to achieve by giving me this letter. I took it and scanned the outside. It was completely blank. Who could have written this?

"What is it?" I asked her.

"A letter from him" Vivi replied. "I was asked to deliver it to you" She then added.

"Oh" I said as I started to open it with quite an amount of excitement inside me. What could it be about? What did he want to tell me? I couldn't wait to know all of this. "Do you know what it is about?" I then asked Vivi again.

"No, I haven't got a single idea" She answered honestly.

I focused on the letter that now was on my hands, and started reading it.

Dear Ace:

I still remember when I danced with you the other day, and I thing that I will remember it for the rest of my life. It was simply wonderful and I cannot express with words enough just how wonderful it was. I feel like I am unable to. You are a wonderful person, and I will never forget you, I am not strong enough to do so, however I don't think that I am the right person for you. You mentioned that you would look for me and discover who I was, and I felt honoured that you said that. However I must ask you to stop. To forget about me and about everything that happened then. I am not the right person for you, and you must have surely known this, if not deep down. Nothing that you saw about me there and then is the real me, not even my eyes, those were eye contacts. Please forget about me and continue going on, I will never forget you.

D.

I was at shock. I didn't really know what to think. I felt the letter dropping from my hands and landing on the floor. I couldn't forget him, and I would never be able to. I knew how Sabo thought that this was just a game for me and how I just wanted the man of the mask. No, this wasn't true, and I had ended up realising this after some time of thinking about the whole thing. I wanted to get to know the person that was behind the mask. It wasn't just infatuation. It was love, and I knew that I would make it happen. I would discover who he was, even if he didn't want to. Suddenly the thought of that kid, Luffy, flashed across my mind. I sighed, realising that if I hadn't met that man I would have probably ended up loving him, even if he was the strangest person in the whole school.

"What did it say?" I heard Vivi ask with curiosity.

I grin appeared on my face. "To forget about him" I quickly said. "Vivi, do you have paper?" I then asked.

"Yes, why?" She asked, obviously surprised about what the letter had been about.

"I want to write a reply to him. Is it okay with you to give him the reply?" I asked her.

She grinned and nodded, soon handing me the paper and then a pen. I grinned and started writing.