Luffy let go of Ace's hand and ran forward, his rubber boots splashing in the puddles. It was another rainy March day at Windmill Village.

"Wait, Luffy! Don't run like that, you'll slip and hurt yourself." A freckled young man dressed in only navy three quarter cargos and a red beaded necklace called out.

The boy didn't listen, turning around and sticking his tongue at Ace. "Behh, I won't fall!" He laughed, continuing to step into puddles and getting the muddy water over his long red raincoat.

Rubbing fingers between his neck and shoulder, Ace let out a sigh. He started taking larger strides, catching up to the seven year old boy, "Luffy, at least put on your hood, you'll get sick."

Luffy licked his lips as he attempted to hop into another deep looking puddle when he felt a tug backwards and fell onto his butt. He blinked and peered over his shoulder. A brown gloved hand tangled in the material of his hood.

Splash, splash.

Ace glanced down to see a man faced down clutching Luffy's hood. "…Your friend?" If it wasn't Luffy, he wouldn't have bothered asking an obvious question. The little guy was pretty skilled in attracting all kinds of strange people. Luffy shook his head.

"This old man won't let go of my hood!" His brows furrowed as he whined, tugging his hood from the stranger's grip. Really, how would he know whether or not the stranger is an old man? The fact that it was one of Luffy's usual ridiculous assumptions made him smile. Ace chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair.

The older knelt down and shook the stranger by the shoulder only to have them roll onto their back lifelessly.

"Ahhh! Ace just killed someone! Are you going to kill me next? Noo!" Luffy yelled at the top of his lungs. Spouts of gibberish came out of his mouth one after another non-stop. A large hand covered his mouth and he heard a loud shush from Ace.

"Luffy, he's not dead so I didn't kill anyone." He moved his free hand to the stranger's neck, now noticing the short blonde locks of hair that peeked from under the man's black top hat. The brim covered his eyes so there was no telling what the man looked like at the moment. "He's still got a pulse, calm down okay?" He brought his hand back and wrapped it around Luffy's waist to hold him still.

The boy was too absorbed in his own thoughts he didn't hear a word of what the other was saying and squirmed in Ace's hold. He flailed his legs around, twisting his body to get away from the supposed murderer. The older man had a hard time keeping him still until one of Luffy's foot landed a blow onto the blonde man's head.

A groan belonging to the neither of them sounded. Confused, Luffy stopped squirming and blinked at the stranger. He and Ace stared at the man in anticipation. "He came back to life?" The boy questioned.

A tic formed on Ace's forehead. Though he had tried to keep his irritation inside,—he was an adult, not an ass of a teenager—it seeped into his voice. "Luffy, I said he wasn't dead in the first place." His mouth twitched as it curved upwards. "I said that didn't I, Luffy?"

Luffy's eyes began to fill with golden sparkles of admiration. His jaw dropped. "That's so cooool!"

A harsh grip on his head and a warning went unnoticed. "You should respect what your elders say to you…" Ace mumbled. "Seriously, this guy has quite a grip on your hood. If he doesn't let go, we're leaving your coat here."

At this, Luffy spun his head to face Ace. "Why? I like this coat! We could wake the old man up." He didn't like this one bit. Just because some stubborn old man had an iron grip on his coat didn't mean he had to give the coat up did it? It wasn't fair. He huffed, crossing his arms at his chest and puffed out his cheeks. And if Ace didn't think the boy was being an adorable piece of shi—shrimp right now, he just wouldn't be Ace.

A wailing siren alerted Ace and he sprung up in habitual behaviour grabbing Luffy by the back of his coat, clicking his tongue when a gloved hand pulled slightly. The siren wailed again louder, nearing by.

"Fuck," he cursed and heaved the blonde man's body so it was hanging over his right shoulder. He adjusted Luffy's position to be sitting on his left shoulder and dashed like a mad man.

Luffy giggled. "Faster, Ace!"

Ace smirked and ran faster.