You could really tell when somebody has been your best friend for a decade and when someone has been a best friend for less than a year. Luffy never spoke to Zoro or Sanji about his time in the pit. He knew they knew it still hurt him, and he went to Law for it. Both of them knew why, they knew why Law was the only one he would make any sign of acknowledging it around.

Midoriya was having a harder time accepting not being talked to about it. He felt like Luffy was ignoring him about it, not answering the questions he had. Luffy didn't like Law more than he liked Zoro and Sanji. That's not how it worked. He loved all of his friends, but in some things he liked them more than others.

He liked Law more for physical comfort, sweet things, emotional things. He was with Sanji and Zoro to be happy and loud. He was deeper with Zoro, who understood him better than Sanji. Sanji was when he wanted to be with someone smart. They were the number ones in different things. And, well, Midoriya didn't fit into one of the number ones.

It didn't mean Luffy didn't like him, though. He just didn't go to him as often as he did his boyfriend and closest best friends. All four of them accepted and were fine with this other than Midoriya. He was insecure about his "place" in the friendship circle. Luffy was the common link. Luffy had been the instigator in all four relationships, and he felt that Midoriya felt he wasn't one of those in the group with Luffy not showing preferential treatment to him for major things.

When they were eating lunch as a group, with Law reading on his phone and the other three talking, Midoriya mentioned what Tokoyami said. "I hope Tokoyami isn't feeling guilty anymore." Luffy turned cold, his ears tilting backwards at the mention of what the four had said to everyone that they didn't want to talk about any of it.

Midoriya saw the look of irritation on Luffy's face and Zoro swiftly changed the subject. The freckled friend looked hurt at that, but everyone moved on from it. All Law had done was reach out one of his hands not doing anything and rubbed Luffy's ear to make them and him relax back to normal.

But Midoriya didn't let it go. "I'm sorry I mentioned it-"

"It's fine, just don't say anything about it again," Luffy said tersely, tail twitching beside him. He looked hurt, but his other friends and boyfriend looked unbothered. The super strength one looked hurt, again. Luffy thought he was taking things personally when he shouldn't. And he felt bad for it sometimes, that he was closer to Law than he was and he'd only met Law that year. But, Luffy was still Midoriya's friend, even if he was never going to be his number 1 or number 2.

"I think you should talk to somebody about it, Luffy." Now he wasn't feeling so patient anymore.

"I have talked about it. I don't need to go into it with other people."

Midoriya frowned, "But we're your best friends."

Luffy said, "I'm not talking about it with you, even if you are my friend."

"But you talk to Zoro and Sanji about it," he challenged. Law was looking uncomfortable now and Zoro continued to eat with a straight face. Sanji calmly interjected that he hadn't been talked to about, either.

Zoro commented, "Just because we're his best friends doesn't mean he has to turn to us for every single thing in life. He's talked with Law, his brothers and the others he went through with it. He doesn't need us this time."

Midoriya frowned and asked how he was okay with being shut out. He was more confused than upset, not understanding how Zoro and Sanji were fine with being ignored about a certain topic - one this big.

"Dude, it's not being shut out. I'm not upset that he doesn't want to go into detail about it. It's not personal. He doesn't want to talk about it to anybody. He doesn't talk to it to his brothers or Law unless he has to. It's not some neat topic we just aren't cool enough to know about," Zoro said, sounding slightly exasperated.

The darker green haired student was frowning deeply, looking uncertain. Zoro's words hadn't helped it seemed. "It is weird joining a friend group with three of them being life long friends," he said in a small voice. Luffy frowned. "I just thought best friends tell each other everything and all…"

Law was silent the entire time, but wasn't looking at his phone anymore, his hand not on Luffy's ear anymore but smoothly petting his tail absentmindedly. Luffy said, "I do tell you guys a lot of things, and so do you, but the mess - its not one of them. I'm not going to openly talk about it, so stop asking, please. I don't want any mention of it."

Midoriya nodded and apologized, before he got up and left the table. The four of them watched him leave, and Luffy sighed, frowning sadly. "Am I mean?"

"No, you're not," Zoro said sternly. Sanji nodded in agreement. "I think he has the girly best friend idea. You never part, you always tell each other everything your thinking, everything that goes on in your life. That's not us."

Sanji poked at his food with his fork, before saying, "I wish he could relax more. It's like he's always expecting to be kicked away. And so he's afraid every time he feels shunned or excluded, even if it's for something small."

Law said, "You guys are fine with me being around, right? I don't feel like I'm a best friend to you and Zoro."

"I'd say you're a pretty close friend, just not as close as we or Luffy are. And Luffy loves you, so, we won't kick you out." Both of their faces turned red, and Zoro started laughing. Sanji chuckled, and then frowned at the empty spot Midoriya had left. Luffy felt better as knowing how his two closest best friends felt about everything, but was sad that Midoriya didn't understand the situation.

While they were getting dressed in their hero costumes, Luffy approched Midoriya. "Midoriya," he began, though he didn't really know what to say. "You know you're one of our best friends, right? Even if you don't have as much history, you're still really important to us. Maybe our friendship is different than what you thought, we're not all joined at the hip and all."

"It's me making things awkward. I've never had close friends before, let alone best ones. And I'm sorry I keep bringing it up. I promise I won't anymore," he said. Luffy smiled and nodded, and the other had a look of complete relief wash over his face. Luffy forgave him, and he was reassured of his importance as their friend.

Luffy was glad it could be resolved quickly. Midoriya didn't press again, seeming to learn his lesson and accept it.

-x-

"Dazzy, I want you to alert me if you find somebody stalking us, okay?" Luffy said to his light. It nodded and darted high into the air to have a good look around the area. Luffy was at the park with his brothers. They were going on a hike, Ace and Sabo stretching while Luffy was setting up his quirk surveillance.

"So, how far up did you and Law make it?" Ace asked with a challenging tone in his voice.

Luffy replied, "Past the fog line. There's no way you guys are making it that high with me," Luffy said with a grin. Sabo laughed and said that was most likely true.

"Don't submit to defeat yet, Sabo. We have to give it a try," Ace insisted. Sabo humored him, and the three walked up the trail, switching from the level one to the steepest. "You're not allowed to walk on all sixes." Meaning he couldn't crawl up. Luffy replied that he couldn't go on all fours, then.

But this way of thinking didn't work with Luffy. He kept slipping with his small feet. He had to use his hands, so he used the middle two. But Ace had to bend over, too, once it was getting too steep. Sabo was in the front most of the time. Luffy felt like a kid with his brothers. "How's Koala?"

"Oooh, don't ask him about her, he said he loved her and she didn't say it back," Ace said. Luffy gasped, and apologized. Sabo turned and shot a glare at Ace.

"He's making it dramatic. I said I loved her, but she wasn't sure. She doesn't think she deserves my love, so I'm slowly showing her that I do love her and I don't care about her past," Sabo explained. Luffy smiled. His big brother was so kind. "You should ask about Ace's secret crush."

Ace snapped at him that he could not tell anybody else. "It's just a crush, Ace. You're not madly in love with him, chill. Besides, Luffy's great at keeping secrets." Luffy said he didn't want Ace to tell him if he didn't feel comfortable. He wasn't upset not knowing. But he was curious. Really curious.

The oldest brother was in the front now, not facing either of them. "I have a crush on Marco," Ace confessed. Luffy was shocked, but didn't show it. Marco was 20 years older than Ace and his superior. It was a very long shot. "It will pass. Maybe I idolize him so much cause I don't know how to deal with wonderful older men."

Luffy frowned. "Have you thought about Roger again?" He changed the subject since he knew Ace wouldn't want to talk about Marco. He was saving him from that topic. They were now heading uphill steeply. Luffy climbed up a tree and jumped to the next ledge gracefully. Sabo and Ace climbed up more slowly.

"No. I don't want a thing to do with him," Ace said defiantly, Luffy reaching down to help him up. Luffy didn't have the stoppers on his fingers, but Ace was made of fire, and now that he could expertly control it, he could make each place the tips of Luffy's fingers poke into flames. His arm stayed solid, but didn't get scratched.

The same couldn't be said for Sabo, who had Ace help him up. "Has he tried making contact?" Luffy wondered. "I haven't heard anything from him. Or seen him."

Sabo shook his head. It seemed like he'd given up just like that. Luffy was about to talk again when Dazzy appeared next to him, and pointed in one direction. "Someone watching me?" It nodded. The photos were getting creepier and creepier, but they were always taken from a distance, so he couldn't swerve back around. He was sick of them, and the person hadn't stopped no matter tier website being shut down.

"Grab on," Luffy said, shifting into his beast form and bringing out the heavy wings. Ace and Sabo grabbed on and screamed as Luffy shot them after where Dazzy was leading him. When he landed, it was with a heavy THUD in front of an older man. He had black hair and a mustache.

"Roger?!" Ace shouted angrily. Luffy shifted back to his normal form. Sabo pulled him away by the shoulder. "Are you the stalker?! What do you want?!" Ace demanded. Luffy hadn't expected this. But Dazzy was leading him to a car. Roger wasn't the one taking photos. Luffy quickly followed his light and found a woman in the car with a very nice camera.

Luffy ripped the camera out of her hands and yanked the film out, crushing it in his fingers. She was shocked, and it was easy to tell that Roger was with her. He hadn't come back wanting to meet them, get to know them. He was just doing it to get photos. Luffy ran away and up the mountain, hearing his brothers shout his name behind him.

He had never been enough, and even now, he wasn't desired as Luffy. They just wanted photos or fame or something because of who Luffy was the to public, not as a person. He stood at the foot of the ledge he nearly fell over. The small teen sat down and curled up as best as he could, clasping his hands together tightly.

His phone was ringing in his backpack. He took it out and saw it was Ace. He focused his hearing and heard Marco's voice from below. It echoed up there. So, they probably called some heroes on Luffy's stalkers. Did it matter if it was his dad? He didn't exactly not have custody. He and mom split. They never divorced or fought over custody of them. Roger never seemed to care about seeing them after leaving.

Luffy didn't answer, and instead called Law. "Luffy? What's up? I thought you were going on a hike."

"I did… It didn't end well," the black faupta said sadly, and then explained what had happened about finding out their dad was the stalker, and he only wanted contact with Luffy because he would get pictures better.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Law said sincerely, with an undertone of anger there.

Luffy looked at the blue sky, and said, "When I was young, I always got stared at, and my dad was what made me the most insecure. He ignored me when he wasn't glaring. I don't remember a single good thing about him. He was always mean and cold. He showed love for Ace and Sabo, and I knew something was wrong with me. Then he was gone one day. Mom said he went on a long trip, and he just never came back.

"I know he was kind and fatherly to Ace and Sabo at one point, but I don't know if they only hate him because of how he treated me. Is it my fault they hate their dad, who had once cared about them? Is it only out of anger for my sake?"

Law let him speak, and responded when he was clearly done. "If he never came back in ten years, even when Ace and Sabo weren't at home anymore, even when they were seen on the news with the Whitebeards, then he didn't care about any of you. If it was only you, he would have done something when you weren't always around," Law reasoned.

There was another call from Ace, and Luffy was calmed down enough to answer the call. "Yeah… Ace is calling me. I sort of ran off and never answered the calls."

"Tell me what happens later, okay?"

"I will."

"Love you. Be careful going down the mountain." Luffy returned the sentiment and said he'd be careful. He hung up and switched to Ace. "Hi, Ace..."

Ace sighed in relief, but didn't get mad at Luffy for running off. "Hey, Lu. Why don't you come down and come with us? Roger is gone. He had no excuses. He was coming to us because we've all become successful, even if you're the one who's the most identifiable. He was lying to all of us. Come home, Lu."

"Okay," Luffy said. He told him he'd be down in a minute. He hung up, and stood, transforming into his heavy form and shot out his wings, which was painless, and then flew down and to the cars. He found Thatch there, not Marco anymore. He landed with a heavy thud and then shifted back. Sabo hugged him, and told him not to run off like that again, and not answer his phone.

Luffy looked down, and said, "I'm sorry. I had to be alone for a little bit…" He swallowed and asked, "Do you only hate Roger because he was mean to me? He liked you both before I was there." Thatch was staying quiet, and Luffy was glad his stalker and "dad" was gone.

Ace said, "We used to love him. I remember him being nice to us before you came. But it wasn't because of you that I think he turned cold."

"Then why?"

Ace said he didn't know. Luffy frowned and slouched, sitting on the bench at the gravel parking lot. This was supposed to be a fun outing, and it was ruined. Well, at least he knew who had been stalking him with photos. It just wasn't what he expected. He thought it would be some creep, not someone paired with his dad.

The trip was ruined, and Thatch offered to pay for a nice meal for them. They accepted, and drove in separate cars to a nice Mongolian buffet place that was pretty expensive. Thatch paid for the meal, but didn't linger, letting them have some time to themselves. They picked at their food, Luffy sitting on a booster seat, not really caring right now.

"Why don't we go see mom? And we can bring her some food and we'll eat it at home," Luffy suggested, breaking the silence. The other two agreed, and had their food put in styrofoam boxes and then paid for another meal for Makino before they drove back to their home. They called ahead of time to make sure she was there, and she was off of work.

She was happy to have them, and when they got home, the four of them ate in the living room, Luffy on the large beanbag chair and the others on the couch. Sabo had called and briefed their mother when Luffy had run off on his own to the mountain. She was incredibly shocked and deeply disappointed and irritated with Roger's actions and behavior.

"Has he made contact with you again?" Sabo asked. Being at home made the meal much more enjoyable, even if they weren't talking about nice things. Makino shook her head.

"I tried calling him, but the number was disconnected. I have no idea what that man is thinking or what he actually wants to happen."

Ace said, "Marco had escorted him away, and said that, since he was our biological father and we don't have any custody arrangement, there's not much we can do about the stalking other than press charges and fine them." Luffy pouted, his middle arms fiddling around. He wanted them to just stop. He didn't need money from them, he just wanted the photos to stop and be taken down.

"At least it wasn't a villain taking those photos," Makino commented in a lighter voice. It was true. It was good that it wasn't villains stalking him with nefarious goals. But still, it wasn't how he wanted his day to end up. They stayed late, Luffy missing home desperately. "Just a bit longer," Makino soothed with Luffy in her lap. "There are no villains, you'll come home soon enough."

Luffy sniffled and wiped his eyes before pressing his hands to his ears. Ace and Sabo had left so Luffy had time alone with his mom. "I'm sorry you're alone so much," Luffy apologized.

Makino smiled and said she had a very nice friend at work. "I think you'd like him very much. I'm not lonely, and if I was, it isn't your fault. It isn't anybody's fault, now. Those that caused this are all gone. In jail or dead." Luffy nodded, hoping she was right.