Not beated! Read at your own risk.
Ominous
Buttface
"Grandpaaaa~!" Luffy whined, dutifully trotting after the man despite obvious signs of wanting to rebel. "Where are we going?"
Garp didn't spare her a glance. "To the place where you'll be staying from now on," he replied. "It's a bit early for you to meet him, but Foosha is not safe for you anymore."
"Eeeeh? But I don't want to leave!" the girl growled. She stopped, planting her feet into the soil, and glared up at her grandfather. "Makino is finally starting to like me!"
The old man also came to a stop. For a moment, he just stood like that, staring into the distance, before he heaved a sigh and turned around. "Luffy…" he said quietly.
A fight instantly drained out of Luffy. Grandpa looked so sad. Even his demon felt distant; she could barely sense it. As if subdued, weakened. Or maybe it was sleepy today, hers sometimes had days like that.
"You're lucky that Red-Haired brat covered for you," Garp said. His voice sounded tired, bitter. "Do you know how much trouble killing that bandit could have caused?"
Luffy scrunched her face, lips pulling up into a snarl. That bastard dared to insult Shanks and scare Makino! He deserved all that and much more!
Observing her feral expression, Garp shook his head. "You truly are your father's daughter…" With another weary exhale, he turned around and continued following the overgrown path up the mountain. The girl hurried to catch up with him. "Listen, Luffy. I won't be able to visit you for a while. They've been watching me lately, I can't risk it."
Staring at her grandpa's back with wide eyes, Luffy blinked dumbly. It was faint, but his demon felt like it was in great distress. Reacting to that, her own inner entity let out a miserable mewl. Luffy wholeheartedly agreed with it. No matter what her opinion currently was about her grandfather, he still was one of hers—still her Pack.
"B-But…" Nevertheless, with Shanks gone and her grandpa barely visiting her, Makino was the only one she had. Luffy pulled at the straw hat that Shanks left for her after she declared her new dream—to follow in the footsteps of his captain and claim the Pirate King's title. "I don't want to be alone again!"
"Don't worry." This time, Garp grinned reassuringly at her over his shoulder. "You won't be alone."
They stepped out of the forest and into the clearing. Luffy shut her eyes as the sun blinded her. On the next moment, they snapped open, going wide and red in an instant. Her straw hat flew off her head when she whipped it around to meet an unfamiliar pair of equally red eyes.
It was a boy, older than her by maybe a couple of years, with black messy hair and a maze of freckles across his face. He was also a fellow D and justifiably not happy about someone from his kind invading his territory. His demon resurfaced, angry and menacing, ready to defend.
Luffy's chest rumbled with a low growl, matching the one coming from her soul. She shifted, taking a better position for the leap on her opponent. Every muscle tensed in preparation for an attack.
The boy mirrored her action, their eyes already locked in a deadly battle. Another second trickled by and then, in silent unison, they both sprung forward, claws out and fangs bared—
They never made it all the way. Garp's arms shot forward and snatched both kids out of mid-air by their scruffs like misbehaving kittens. That didn't stop them from snarling at each other.
"You two…" Two young Ds froze at the adult's deep growl before the man released his hold and they both landed on their butts. "Behave!" Garp ordered, bonking both on their heads.
Luffy hissed at the accidental touch of the rather painful lump. "Grandpa!" she whined, feeling wronged.
The boy wasn't faring any better. "Damn geezer…" he grumbled, nursing his own lump.
Garp put his hands on his hips and stared them down, daring to complain. When he heard none, he started the introductions, "Luffy, this is Ace. Ace, this is Luffy." Kids gave each other a dirty look and simultaneously turned their heads away with a scoff. "From now on, you're family," Garp announced with a grin. "A Pack."
"Huuuuuh?!" Luffy and Ace screamed together and then exchanged heated glares because of it.
"With her?!"
"With him?!"
If they could glare at each other any angrier after shouting in a perfect chorus, again, their eyeballs would have exploded.
Garp laughed. Footsteps drew his attention to an approaching burly woman. "Oh, Dadan," he greeted her, rummaging inside his suit. After a moment, he pulled out a bottle of sake. "How about sharing a drink?"
Dadan furrowed her brow as she stared at the girl, playing a game of 'don't-blink' with Ace. "So, that's her?" she muttered, before sighing and scrubbing a hand across her face. "You think leaving her here is a good idea?"
"Why not?" Garp asked, moving closer to her and out of the kids' earshot. "Don't worry. Luffy might be young, but she knows which people are off-limits."
"Because I can't guarantee that they won't kill each other?" the bandit leader supplied.
"Bwahahaha! But they already get along so well!"
Dadan stared at Garp incredulously before glancing at the kids. She opened her mouth to argue, but closed it. Instead, she shook her head, deciding against commenting on that. Maybe looking like you wanted to murder each other was normal for Ds, she wasn't an expert.
"Give me that," Dadan demanded, grabbing the bottle out of the man's hands and taking a long swig. God knows, she would need so much more booze from now on.
Meanwhile, Ace blinked.
"Ha!" Luffy cried out happily, pointing a mocking finger at the boy. "I won!"
Ace crossed his arms and huffed in indignation. "I got something in my eye."
The girl stuck her tongue. "Loser!"
"Weakling!"
"Idiot!"
"Weirdo!"
"Buttface!"
"Ugly!"
Luffy scowled. "Shanks said my hair is pretty!"
"Pretty?" A vicious smirk tugged at the corner of Ace's lips. "That snake nest on your head?"
Luffy sniffed, making a show of it, cocked her chin up, and simply marched away. She picked up her straw hat on the way, put it back on, and glanced back at the boy. Ace was watching her go, a satisfied smile growing on his face with every step she took away from him.
Luffy averted her eyes. Her demon purred and the girl relaxed at the comforting sound from inside her soul. With a mumbled, "Stupid Buttface…" she went on to explore her new home.
