Ominous

Acceptance


Ace and Luffy were—

Sabo ducked to the side to avoid being grabbed by the city guard. He didn't decrease his running speed, but he did twirl his pipe in preparation if the guard would chase after him. His worries were for naught, however. On the next moment, the man was knocked off his feet and blown off into the shop through the window, cleaning a couple of his buddies that were unfortunate enough to be in the path.

"Serves you right, Ugly!" Ace cackled as he sidled to the blond. When the latter twisted his head to see what was happening with the guards, he caught sight of Luffy climbing out from the heap of bodies and debris, grumbling and growling.

—definitely not humans.

Both Ds seemed to drop all pretenses at hiding their true nature in front of Sabo after the incident with Bluejam's thugs. They also never left him alone anymore, one of them or both always lingering somewhere nearby. Despite their constant presence, they had an almost unnatural sixth sense regarding when Sabo needed time for himself and would both disappear, leaving him alone.

A Pack was still a concept Sabo couldn't quite comprehend. It was more than family or close friends. One could live without family, one could live without friends, but it seemed that living without a Pack was dangerous for a D. They needed at least one person they could call theirs just as much as they needed air to breathe or blood to keep their demons satiated.

And Sabo ended up being that one person to both young Ds. Deprived of familial love his entire life, their obvious care and affection sometimes left him overwhelmed. And they made it seem like such a casual thing too!

He was still learning about Ds, but Ace and Luffy were—

Sabo heard approaching footsteps behind, Ace missing it due to his loud laughter. He shot a glance over his shoulder. Luffy was quickly catching up, but the last few feet she suddenly quickened her pace to gain a greater momentum before jumping up and delivering a precise kick into Ace's back.

Sabo's eyes bugged out as he watched the other boy fly forward until he landed on the paved street face first and then continued to slide across it. When he finally stopped, Luffy, who was now running together with the blond, stepped on him with a cheerful, "Oops, didn't see you there, Buttface!" as they passed him.

—super fun to be around!

Sabo exploded into laughter.

He wondered if those two even noticed how their crazy rivalry gradually shifted from hostile clashes and insulting name-calling to decidedly more tame prank-like war and their nicknames to each other didn't carry the same derogatory meaning anymore.

Either way, Sabo thought with a grin as the three of them continued sprinting across the Goa Kingdom after their latest dine and dash, he felt truly happy!

"Sabo?!"

The blond flinched, head whipping towards that voice.

"Sabo! It's really you! Wait right there!"

His face drained of all blood. Any happiness he felt a mere moment ago vanished without a trace, replaced by the bone-chilling dread.

"You're alive?! I can't believe it! You have to come back home!"

Ace and Luffy paused their scuffle to look at the man shouting at them, eyeing his fancy garb and pompous aura. Luffy scowled while Ace outright growled. Then, they shared a knowing glance, flanked their blond friend from both sides, and left the noble behind.


Sabo expected to be interrogated as soon as they returned to the woods.

He wasn't.

Ace and Luffy never even mentioned the incident, instead suggested sparring, seeing as their bellies were full for the moment. Of course, it turned out as usual—the spar of two Ds escalating and they both somehow ended up rolling off the cliff and into a river. Soaked to the bone, they had to fend off a group of alligators that decided that two kids were easy prey.

Well, they at least saved time and got food for dinner without going anywhere.

Sabo was just laughing his ass off on the sidelines, safe and dry, the man in the city momentarily forgotten.

After dinner, the fear came back tenfold as he waited for his friends to starts asking about the man.

They didn't. Neither that evening nor the next day. Or the day after that.

Guilt about keeping his origin a secret festered, sitting in the pit of his stomach like a chunk of rot. On the fifth day, Sabo wasn't able to ignore it anymore.

"Are you not going to ask?!"

Sabo's forceful question was met with two matching owlish blinks.

"Aaaah!" Luffy screamed, pointing a finger at the black flag. "I wanted to be red!"

Ace stuck a tongue at her as he dipped the brush into the red paint. "Too bad for you, I'll be red and you'll be yellow!"

Luffy glare at him.

Sabo smothered the urge to punch them both. "Five days ago, when we were running away from Goa, a man called my name. He's…" he trailed off, feeling his hands shaking. He had to tell them this though, regardless of how they were going to take the news. Taking a deep breath, he blurted out, "He's my father."

No reaction. Ace continued painting their flag and Luffy continued watching him.

Sabo furrowed his brow at their lack of response, but pushed forward, "The truth is, both my parents are still out there… I'm not really an orphan. I wasn't born in the Gray Terminal either. I'm—" He bit his lip. He didn't want to say it, but he had to. "I'm the son of a noble." If those two would decide that he wasn't worthy of their friendship, he would understand.

"I figured it out some time ago," Ace commented casually.

"I suspected," Luffy chirped happily right after.

Sabo gaped at them, speechless. "You—You knew?!"

"Hey, you left a spot there!"

"Don't touch the paint, idiot."

They weren't even paying attention as if that fact didn't bother them at all. "How?!" Sabo demanded. It came out much more aggressive than he had intended.

"Your clothes."

"Your manners."

"Your speech."

"Your habits."

Ace and Luffy listed out alternately, still fully absorbed into painting the flag.

"The smell of that man matches yours," Ace added as an afterthought.

Luffy frowned. "Your blood sings differently though. I wonder why." The next moment, she just shrugged and went back on supervising Ace's paintwork. "Hey, put more blue in Sabo's S!"

Sabo stared at them, feeling his chest growing tight. "And you… don't care about it?" he asked, his voice low and unsure. "About me being a noble?"

Ace was busy concentrating, so it was Luffy who replied with a dismissive, "Is it important?"

Was it important? Sabo wanted to laugh, but there was a lump in his throat and all he could do was choke on it, his eyes burning.

The quiet sound finally drew the other two kid's attention and their eyes widened.

"You made him cry," Ace hissed at his fellow D immediately.

The girl didn't argue. In the blink of an eye, she stood next to Sabo, frantically embracing him. "Sorry, sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" she blabbered. "If it's important to you, it's gonna be important to us too."

A laugh welled inside him and this time, he didn't hold it in, letting it spill out. Once he managed to subdue it, he muttered, "No, no," while brushing tears off. "It's not important. That's the thing, it's not important." Luffy was staring up at his face now, arms still around him and her chin resting on his chest, being the head smaller than the blond. Ace was hovering nearby, ever so awkward when it came to emotional situations like this. "You don't care," Sabo said with something akin to awe.

Luffy cocked her head to the side. "You accept us for what we are, why wouldn't we accept you?" Then, she nuzzled him with a soft, "You're mine."

And Ace was quick to jump in with his own possessive, "Sabo's mine."

The blond laughed again. His arm suddenly shot out and hooked around Ace's neck. Before the latter could protest, he was already pulled into a collective hug. "And both of you are mine!" Sabo exclaimed with relish.