Being alone…

"You insolent brat!"

…is the most terrifying thing to me.

"Get out of this house if you don't like the rules here."

I'm sorry…

"…You're such a burden."

I'm sorry…

"You're so annoying!"

I'm sorry…for being a burden to you.

I'm sorry for being a coward… I'm sorry for being annoying…

I'm sorry…

.

.

.

…for being alive.

XXX

I wake up with guilt in my heart.

I sit up and look around. The ASL are still sleeping and it's still dark outside, which means it's still night or even dawn.

Man, it's been awhile since I felt like this when I woke up. I scratch the back of my head and sigh out. I decided to take a walk until morning and erase all my guilt.

As I walk outside the house, I see Pochi, who is already up and approaching me. He sits down next to my feet and looks at me with his usual bored-look, as if begging to pet him. How a dog manages to look comically bored is beyond me, but it's funny. I chuckle and pet him.

"Aren't you adorable, Pochin?" I coo as I hug him. He just barks and licks my cheek as I let go of him. I grin at him. "Well then, I gotta go. See you later, Pochin!" I say as I grab my pipe staff and run toward the woods. He barks once and walks back into his house.

As I run down the road, it's still quite dark and cold. Two of four things I hated most for a place. The third one is dirty, while the last one is abandoned.

Fortunately, I didn't find any wild beasts on my journey, so I arrive at my destination safe and sound.

The cliffs that Ace always goes to when he's upset.

I named it Ace Cliffs, because he's always there, so the place is practically his.

I sit down and look out at the dark sea. The night breeze and the salty smell of the sea are starting to calm me down. I fold my knees and hug them as I put my chin on them and close my eyes.

"You're such a burden!"

I quickly open my eyes and shudder as I remember those words before shaking my head. No, I shouldn't remember those words again. It's in the past, and there's no use remembering it. Not only that, I'm not in my home world anymore. Being in this world is basically a fresh start for me, and I'm not going to blow my chance.

Yeah, screw shitty parents and siblings! I got a new family to care for now, and they will care for me back! Unlike that shitty family back in the home world!

"…I heard that when you're upset, yelling at the sea is the best cure." I mutter, looking at the sea. I keep on staring and staring until I stand up and walk up toward the edge of the cliff before taking a deep breath.

And then just start yelling out at the sea.

"FUCK YOU PEOPLE! FUCK YOU DAD! FUCK YOU MOM! FUCK YOU SIS! LEAVE ME ALONE! FUCKING PASTS! SO WHAT IF I'M BEING A COWARD?! SO WHAT IF I'M BEING A BURDEN?! FUCK YOU ALL!"

I pant heavily and cough loudly before yelling the next one.

"I HATE YOU DAD! I HATE YOU MOM! I HATE YOU SIS! YOU MAY SEE ME AS A BURDEN AND A COWARD, OR YOU CAN HIT ME HOWEVER YOU WANT BACK HOME, BUT UNLIKE YOU I GOT MY SECOND CHANCE! UNLIKE YOU, I CAN FIX MY OWN BULLSHIT WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE!"

I pant again and yell the last one.

"BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT FAMILIES ARE FOR, YOU SHITTY FAMILY!"

After yelling every bullshit I have in my chest, I fall to my butt and cough up a storm because my throat isn't used to yell and shout, but I end up laughing loudly. I don't know why but it feels so funny, yelling and cursing out freely like that.

Man, my sides hurt, but it's worth it. The weights in my heart are mostly gone and I'm happy. Despite the fact that my throat is burning…

…Is it just me or I'm feeling that I'm being watched?

I stand up and turn my head, squinting my eyes as I stare at a certain bush. And then an orange snout with black nose pops out from the bush and steps out, revealing an orange flame furred little puppy with a blue feathered baby bird on its head.

I blink in amazement as I scoot closer to them. The weird colored puppy is growling at me, while the weird-colored baby bird is watching my movements. Wow, I have never seen the most anime-looking animals like these two! In fact, most animals I've seen in the forest are normal colored, but these two are pretty unique.

And also, they look super cute…

"Hi there, what are you doing here?" I greet them softly with a smile. The baby bird chirps, while the puppy is still growling at me and takes a step back.

"Are you lost? Abandoned? Or ran away?" I ask, still gently smiling. First rule of taming wild animals is to act gentle, kind, and trustable. That way, animals will start to trust you, slow but steady.

The bird is chirping a few times, as if telling something. But to be honest I have zero idea on what in the hell's name it's talking about, so I just nod along and pretend that I have a clue on what it's talking about.

"…So, you're saying that you ran away and needed home?" I ask with a nervous smile, 100% bullshitting my way through with that question. Second rule is to act like you understand them.

And then the bird gives me the most shocked expression a bird can do, as if he didn't even think that I will understand him, which is true enough I didn't. The puppy seems to know that I'm just bullshitting my way through and just sweat-drops a bit when seeing his companion acts like that, while I just laugh nervously.

"Want to live together with my family?"

They look up and stare at me with gleaming eyes, which is really adorable. I tried to restrain myself not to hug them, but failed miserably.

"You two are so fucking cute!" I squeal as I hug them, not caring about the puppy's angry yelp and his struggle to let them go. Well, family members are increasing and Dadan is so gonna be pissed.

Eventually I let them go and we walked back to the shack. I greet Pochi as we walk past him, who just barks and watches the new companions calmly before yawning with zero care. I walk into the house while the puppy walks in slowly and carefully, and somehow it's pretty noisy inside so I check on it and see that everyone is gathered up in the living area, with the boys visibly panicking.

"Oh hey guys, what's wrong? Did Ace hit his head again?" I ask as I approach them and everyone literally whips their heads to me, and I definitely disturbed on their eyes on me so that I put my fighting stance on instinct, "W-What?!"

And before I know it, Luffy suddenly rockets himself to me and tackles me down. I oof-ed as I hit the back of my head to the floor and groaned in pain, before a hit in the head added on to the pain. I look up and see Ace with a fist up and Sabo next to him.

"Oow! That hurt! Ace you meanie!" I whine out.

"You idiot! You almost gave us a heart attack!" Ace yells and I just pout.

"But we're relieved that you're fine." Sabo says with a relieved smile before glancing at Luffy, who's still clinging onto me, "Though Luffy is the first one to notice that you're gone and start screaming around in panic."

"I-I thought you got kidnapped!" Luffy exclaims, on the verge of tears.

I snort in amusement. "Luffy, we live with mountain bandits. We're basically kidnapped already, although it's a bit reversed when gramps is the one that threw us here." I tell him before patting his head, "But thanks for worrying about me. I'll be fine. I'm stronger than I look, you know!"

"Promise?"

"Promise." I reply before remembering something. "Oh yeah, I kind of forgot something." I stand up and sidestep to reveal my new friends, "Everyone, meet Takao," I point at the baby bird, who chirps in greeting, "And Flame." I point to the puppy, who huffs and throws his head to the side, almost making the bird fall over.

The room is really, really quiet until Dadan breaks the ice.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU BRING THEM HERE, YOU DAMNED BRAT?!"

"Oh c'mon, they're my new friends I found when I took a walk in the forest. Let me keep them, pleaseeeee?" I beg Dadan and give her the best puppy eyes I can make, but she's not amused. "But I'm not sure if they can be obedient, especially Flame." I grin in amusement.

"WHA—"

"Oh yeah! We should go to town and sell the animal hides we got yesterday! And get breakfast along the way too!" I tell the boys, ignoring Dadan's screaming at me to stop ignoring her as I walk past them to grab my satchel full of my stuff and a hidden stash of a loaf of bread for the babies to eat. I dunno if they can eat it, but it's food anyway. Once I grab them, I run back to where they are and give them the bread.

"Takaochin, Flamey, here. Eat this and stay here until I'm back. We'll be back with some meat to eat, so be obedient and don't make a ruckus," And then I turn to Flame, "Especially you, Flame." I can hear him grumbling and huffing, while Takao chirps and puffs his chest with his small wing. I just chuckle and pet them both before I turn to the bandits.

"And you guys, make sure you don't lose them or I'm going to kick all of your asses." I warn them with wide eyes and big smiles before grinning genuinely, "Welp, wish us luck!" I say and run outside, where the ASL are waiting with the animal hides on a cart. I can feel the bandits are literally shaking in their boots and I just grin in amusement.

We use a rag to disguise ourselves from the guards. I was positioned under Ace, Luffy is under me, and Sabo is under Luffy. To be honest, we (or mostly Sabo) walk sloppily like a drunken man. As we're pulling the cart (it's actually me who pulls it), we almost get caught. Thankfully, Ace did the mouth-moving while Sabo did the voiceover, telling the guard that we're going to sell croc skin and I pulled the cover, surprising the guard.

We continue our journey into an alleyway and I hear voices. I recognize those voices as Ace replies with a bored tone and Sabo hits the closest thug's leg by his pipe. I grin and grip mine, while Ace throws off the rug and reveals us out.

We jump and beat off the thugs easily until they can't move anymore. The ASL are busy disguising themselves again while I rummaging through the thugs' pockets, searching for wallets. Hey, I can't help it! Chances won't come twice!

Surprisingly, I found some money with quite a nominal fee. I found 200.000 berries from all of the thugs and I scoffed. The hell? They got money after all! Well too bad, they're mine now! Nyehehe!

"Hey Eris! We're gonna sell these skins. Wanna come or not?" Ace asks. I approach them with a nod.

"Sure, plus I need to sell these things and these bugs. But! The money will go to me and maybe to Luffy too. Okay?" They just shrug and we go back to our position like before.

We sell the stuff with a high price, and surprisingly the bugs are sold plenty too. The money from my stuff goes into my pocket, obviously.

As we walk around town, Luffy is complaining how hungry he is and I can't help but agree.

"Hey Ace, any suggestions for brunch?" I ask.

"How about we eat ramen? It tastes really good, you know. I think there's a ramen restaurant here." Ace says.

"Ramen? What's that? Is it good?" Sabo asks.

"I don't care, as long as it's food. Just hurry up so we can eat!" Luffy exclaims.

"Impatient as always." I chuckle.

We keep walking until Ace tells Luffy to stop walking and tells us that we finally arrive at the restaurant. We enter and the owner greets us, before frantically saying that we can't be here. I frown. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news, but we're gonna make you go bankrupt for today, especially with these three black holes.

And then Sabo is rummaging around his pants (I think) and taking out something.

"I will order the VIP room." Sabo says, with a mature, noble-like voice tone, which makes the owner immediately go 180 and starts apologizing and welcoming us. And then he escorts us to the VIP room and we order 4 bowls of ramen. Minutes later, a waitress came and put the bowls on the table before exiting, telling us to enjoy ourselves.

"So this is ramen!" Sabo says as he pops his head out from the cover.

"It smells good!" Luffy and I exclaim in sync as we also pop our heads out.

"Go try it!" Ace says as he pulls the cover off.

We immediately eat and slurp the noodles while letting out happy sounds. At first I thought the portion was pretty big, but apparently I still have plenty of space in my stomach, so I eat more and more bowls. Same goes with the boys, obviously, and the empty bowls tower over us. It's pretty amazing to see.

Too bad our secret didn't last long because Luffy, being his usual idiotic self, stretches out his arm to grab the ramen and scaring the waitress. I can only facepalm and sigh heavily before the owner comes and slams the door open, demanding an answer.

Well shit. Busted!

"Crap! We've been found out! Run!"

We immediately stop eating and quickly grab our pipes before running off towards the window and jumping out through it. The owner is shouting at us, making people nearby turn to see what the ruckuses are.

"Ramen really does taste good!" Sabo says with a satisfied face.

"I told you so!" Ace replies with a grin.

I just laugh at Luffy's hamster-like face as he's still munching on the ramen in his mouth. Luffy and Ace land on a parasol-like thing (I don't know what it's called) while Sabo and I grab on a pole flag before we jump off and land on the main road. The impact kinda hurts, but I ignore the pain as we keep on running when the cops arrive.

So this is why Ace is pretty infamous for his 'dine and dash', huh? Apparently it started when he's young and I don't think he's gonna stop anytime soon in the future. I must say, it's pretty exciting to do, and I spent no money in exchange! We ate 30 bowls of ramen today and left a broken window. I'm gonna write this down in my journal.

But before we jumped off earlier, both Luffy and I left a paper and a handful of leaves for the restaurant to pay for the ramen. I just laugh as I imagine the owner's expression.

We keep on running until I spot a certain man wearing a blue top hat with frilly-edge band around it and golden-colored feather brooch-or-something on it, and I quickly recognize who it is.

It's Sabo's shitty dad.

Suddenly, he's calling for Sabo, making him freeze for a moment before turning around. And then Ace and Luffy also stop, but I keep on running as I grab Sabo's arm and ignore that shithead's shouting.

"C'mon! The cops are chasing us!" I tell them, and both D bros follow without looking back. We run and run until we finally arrive at Ace Cliffs.

We eventually stop to catch our breath together for a few minutes, before Ace, Luffy, and I surround Sabo, demanding for an answer. Or in this case, I'm just pretending to copy them.

"What are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything…" Sabo says nervously.

"Oh, really?" Luffy asks, quickly believing it.

"I won't fall for that! Spit it out, Sabo!" Ace snaps, "Do you really think there should be secrets between us?"

"Yeah! He was calling for you, y'know." I add.

"Spit it out!" The three of us demand.

Sabo seems reluctant to talk as he looks away nervously, before saying that he's not hiding anything again. But we immediately grab him by his collar and shake him around as Sabo tries to push Ace and Luffy away. Not me, because I'm in the middle and he only has two hands.

"Spit it out, damnit! Or I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"…Gah! I-I'll talk! I'll talk!"

And Sabo eventually gives up and tells us that he's actually the son of a noble, making Ace and Luffy yell out in disbelief.

"The son of a noble?!"

Pregnant pause.

"…Who is?"

"Of course it's me!"

And then both Ace and Luffy put their pinky in their nose and hummed in return before saying, "So?"

"You're the one who asked!" Sabo yells in pure annoyance.

I'm trying my best to keep a straight face while also just howling in laughter inside, so I'm just visibly shaking with wobbly lips.

But in the end, Sabo confesses everything to us. About his parents, that he's not one of the Gray Terminal residents, and about the man who called him his blood father, which surprises Ace a bit.

"Sorry that I lied to you guys…" Sabo apologizes.

"Well, you apologized, so all's forgiven!" Luffy says and smiles.

"To be honest, I was really surprised." Ace comments as he turns and walks for a few steps closer to the edge of the cliff, "if you were born as a noble, why'd you end up in the dump?"

"T-that's because…" Sabo stops as he's deep in thought, remembering those painful days. I just stare at him blankly as I'm still standing in front of him and mindlessly open my mouth.

"Is it because your parents only care for their fortune and social status, and not you? That's why you ran away from home." I point out with a tilt of my head.

The boys quickly turn to look at me in surprise, and I'm starting to hate the attention I give to myself because I keep on running my stupid mouth.

"How did you know that?" Sabo asks, "Don't tell me you're…" I quickly wave my hand to dismiss his next sentence.

"No, I'm not one of them. Or at least I don't think so? The only thing I remember when I first woke up here was me falling into the sea and getting rescued by Shanks." I quickly say, which I just realize just throwing oil into the fire of attention.

"What?! You fell from the sky?! That's so cool!" Luffy exclaims out with literal sparkly eyes.

"How can you fall from the sky? That doesn't make sense!" Ace says in disbelief, "are you sure you didn't just hit your head so hard that you're misremembering things?" He asks mockingly and I pout.

"Don't underestimate me and this world! Real life is sometimes more bizarre than fiction, y'know!" I protest with my arms in the air.

"So you're saying that you're an 'Otherworlder'?" Sabo asks and I pout even more.

"I'm not!" Technically I am, but I'm not fueling more into this fire!

After a few minutes of unimportant conversation about me, the topic eventually shifts back to Sabo, who starts to tell us about everything that happened that kept on snowballing until he eventually decided to live in Gray Terminal.

"Gray Terminal residents are completely different from those shitty nobles, and it's 100 times better for me to live alongside them rather than with those rotten nobles in that town." Sabo finishes.

"So that's what happened…" Ace softly comments.

"Ace, Luffy, Eris!" We all look at Sabo as he stands up and points at us, "Promise we'll set sail! That we'll escape from this kingdom and be free!" He says, "I want to see the world and write a book about it. I don't know anything about navigation, but I'm going to get stronger and stronger to be a pirate!" He exclaims out, making the rest of us grin along with him.

"I would do that even if you hadn't suggested it." Ace points out as he walks up to the cliff and facing the sea, "I'm gonna be a pirate, and I will win, win, and win until I will be famous! And that's the only way to prove I am alive!"

"No matter how much people reject me and hate me, I'm gonna be a famous pirate and show them all! I won't run from anyone! I won't lose to anyone! And I'll never be afraid of anything! I'm gonna make the whole world remember my name!" He exclaims out proudly and I grin.

"Well, then I want to travel the world and witness whatever future we will have, and I'm going to record it down for others to read. I'm gonna write it from the time I wake up here, and until our journey comes to an end. I will witness and write every night and every dawn into one hell of a chronicle that brings laughter to the world!" I exclaim out before turning to Luffy with a grin, "And I guess being a pirate sounds fun too." I add and Luffy grins in return.

"Shishishi! Oh yeah? Alright…!" Luffy then runs toward the cliff and takes a deep breath before exclaiming, "WELL, I'M…!"

That surprised the older boys as they stare at Luffy, who's laughing while I just widen my eyes at that revelation before laughing along, in which Sabo eventually joins in while Ace just scratches his head in amusement.

"The things you say…" Ace mutters, still a bit in shock before remembering that it's Luffy.

"Ahahaha! That's great, Luffy! I look forward to seeing your future!" Sabo says before he stops and turns to us, "But how can all four of us be captains?" He asks.

"I hadn't thought about that. Sabo, I thought for sure you'd be the navigator." Ace says.

"You guys can be on my ship!" Luffy exclaims, in which the older boys straight up refuse. Luffy just yells out in shock before childishly whining that they should be on their ship, in which they refuse again while I just chuckle and look at Luffy.

"It's okay Luffy, I'll be on your ship and become your first member of your crew. And then we'll throw a party to our heart's content." I assure him with a smile, and he returns it with a literal sun behind his happy face and beaming with hopeful expression. So… bright…!

"Really?!" I nod, making him jump around in happiness before hugging me tight, using his rubber ability to literally tie himself up to me, almost making me fall over. I just laugh while Ace and Sabo are giving me an 'are you serious?' look before shaking their heads and sighing out in amusement, making me giggle.

And then Ace goes off somewhere (probably went home) and comes back with four red sake cups and a bottle of sake together with a company, which are Takao and Flame.

"Takaochin! Flamey! Why are you here?" I ask as they're approaching me.

"They were following me when I took these things and walked back here." Ace replies as he puts down the cups on a tree stump between all of us. I just stare and pet the babies before walking up to the stump, with the babies following behind me and sitting down next to my feet.

"Anyway, let's leave future decisions for the future," Ace says as he takes the sake and puts it on the stump, "Maybe we'll all be on separate ships."

"Oh! You stole it from Dadan?"

"Did you guys know? If you share a drink, you can become brothers" Ace informs as he pulls the cork open and pours the liquid into the cups before turning to me, "And sister too, I suppose?"

I just shrug, "Just brother is fine by me. Those things didn't matter to me." I say.

"Sure, just brothers then." Ace concludes.

"Brothers? Really?!"

"We might not be on the same ship when we become pirates, but this will connect us together as brothers! No matter where we are or what we do, nothing can break this bond." Ace continues as he takes one of the cups and the rest of us follow along and put them in the air.

"From today on, we're brothers!"

We toast our sake cups together with a big smile on our faces.

"YEAH!"

And then we drink the sake down and we all immediately groan out in disgust and regret.

(Posted in March 11th, 2022)

(a/n: Eris is now enby and there will be gays in this because im one and I have to add it in.)