If he had to be honest, there was a time, years ago when Ace was first introduced to the concept of having to share his best friend with someone else, that he sort of resented Koala. It's nothing against her personally, he thought she was kinda cute - the same way a toddler would find puppies and hamsters cute, and the marsupial-inspired name doesn't help at all - and she's one tough cookie that apparently was smart enough to keep up with Sabo in the study group of his advanced classes. Ace didn't think anyone could, or at least, average student Ace can't do that with his school valedictorian best friend.

But there's a difference between thinking of her as 'that girl Sabo would often talk about during their down time or whose name would always, always come up somehow while they hang out', and thinking of her as 'that girl who said yes even after Sabo's disastrous attempt to ask her out, who obviously cares for him as much as he cares for her, and one day they'll get married and leave Ace alone'.

Because that had been what he had feared. Sabo hadn't just been his best friend, he was his only friend. He had been the only person outside of his parents and cousin who understood him even when from middle school to college he was often ostrasized for his 'weird quirks', and he had been the only person who truly wanted to befriend him. It was a young friendship that he didn't expect to have lasted as long as it did, and by the time they both graduated and entered the adult life, Ace wished it would last forever. So when Koala entered Sabo's life as more than just a friend, he supposed he had been fearful of being replaced, and eventually forgotten like he never mattered.

Of course, he was hardly 18 years old then, juvenile and full of self-doubt and hatred over his 'difference'. But now, 24, a bit more stable on his feet and having just watched his best friend survive a disastrous incident weeks prior, he realized he's never been more glad for Koala for being the kind of person Sabo so obviously needed in his life.

"I didn't think it was going to be this bad," Sabo chuckled, but that laughter sounded the absolute opposite of joyful. Just minutes ago, the doctor had just finished replacing his bandage for the first time, and Ace supposed it was a good thing there's only him and Koala visiting today because the way Sabo's face had fallen over his state of appearance was gut wrenching, "I look like a damn troll,"

Half of his face, and nearly most of the same part of his torso was melted, there's no other way to say it. The hours long surgery he had been admitted in the first time had done enough facial and skin reconstruction, the doctor had said, but there's not much they could do cosmetically when they had been too focused on keeping him alive from smoke inhalation and having 3rd degree burns all over his body. Sabo's hair, the wavy blond locks that reach down to his jaw, has turned into a pale patchy mess on the top of his head, most of it having burned, but at least if he gives it time, it'll grow back more or less the same way.

But the rest of him was…

During these arson cases, he had seen the victims sometimes after even the last ember had fizzled away - both their dead bodies and the souls that still stick around in the mortal plane, not understanding how they had died and some not even realizing they had passed away.

Some of them had looked exactly the way Sabo was now.

But he didn't want to say it, and he couldn't think of some better way to say that he's glad that at the very least, Sabo was still very much corporeal.

And that's when Ace's gratitude to Koala came to play, because she had grabbed the blond man's hand, with the permanently shrivelled and melted skin, took one look of his asymmetrical features, and leaned over to kiss his cheek, gentle and soft, "Troll or not, that still feels like my boyfriend right there,"

Sabo gave her a smile, but it was shaky, and before long, his eyes had gone watery as well, "Seriously? My skin probably felt like some shrivelled up raisins now. So's everything else about me," his voice was barely a whisper, as if afraid that if he spoke any louder, he'd give away his actual feelings, "You don't like raisins,"

Koala snorted, but all that it did was letting her loose control of the tears that had been building up behind her eyes. She snorted messily, lips quivering when she said, "If it means i get to keep you, then i'll learn to like raisins just for you,"

It's possibly the most jarring and bizarre conversation he had ever heard, and yet, from the far side of the room where he had banished himself, Ace couldn't help but smile and felt his own throat closing up from welled up emotion. He watched them kiss again, and again, and again until someone started crying and he doubt neither realized who it was, and decided that he could give them some space. The day is still fairly young, and visiting hour is far from over. He'd figure out what to say when he comes back.

Ace had just closed the door behind him, taking one last peek through the small mosaic window to see his two friend's huddled shadow, when he turned and almost got the shock of his life.

Suddenly standing behind him was a man, and not just any man, but the same pompadoured ghost who had been following Sabo's doctor, "Shit!" he exclaimed, earning himself a dirty look from a passing nurse. Once she left and the hall was once again empty, Ace gave his surrounding one last glance before addressing the spirit, "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be following that doctor? Wait, how long have you been here?"

Instead of answering him, Thatch - if he remembered the name right - let out a huge sigh of relief. Ace is pretty sure ghost doesn't have to breath, what with being dead and all, but he supposed some gestures are just too ingrained in people even in death, "Oh god, i can't believe this. You really can see us," he cleared his throat, to gain some sort of a composure probably, "Listen, i know this is really sudden, but i really need your help. My entire family needs your help,"

He was about to say something else, when out of the thin air another ghost materialize next to him like a wisp of air. Bald and chubby cheeked, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the man until you got to his body just below the waist and saw that they're crushed beyond belief, flat like a gruesome pancake. His eyes were wide with urgency, where Ace could see dark red vein popping on the side of his eyeballs, as if they're about to pop out of his skull. That did not come from his expression, "Thatch, did you find that person you said could see us yet?! Marco, Marco, he—"

The man, scanning Ace from head to toe and his nearly popped eyes widened even more when he caught the way Ace followed his eye movement, "You, you really can….," he trailed off, pointing at Ace with one bloated finger.

Ace nodded carefully and he blinked, his eyes sinking and popping out rather sickeningly at the gesture, "Well, shit,"

"Blamenco, what the hell happened? What happened to Marco?" Thatch's voice seems to break the man's astonishment, who flailed once he remembered what he was here to do.

"I don't know, he was checking on some medicine for his next patient, then he suddenly keeled over and vomited— i don't know it looks dark and i think there's blood in it, and he just, he just fainted and there's literally no one else in that room," All of the words came in a barely legible string of words, and the man, Blamenco must've realized it too when he just turned again to Ace and with a pleading expression reached for his hand, "Please, kid, if you can see us then please, come with us! Please help my brother! He might be in danger!"

It was the word 'danger' that kickstarted Ace's entire nerves and brain, the training and mental readiness as a firemen immediately taking over his senses in the face of possible crisis, "You're talking about the doctor, right? Where is he?"

Apparently, he's on 3 floors above this current one, and without thinking, Ace ran.

Okay, so in a hindsight, running in a hospital of all places wasn't the best idea, but no one had stopped him all the way here - or at least, no one had been fast enough to stop him - with here being a thick, tall door with the eye-catching sign that says 'STAFF ONLY'.

Briefly, he faltered at the sight, but he wasn't given much time to gather his thoughts and decide whether or not this is a good idea when he felt cold wisp passing through his middle and saw Thatch passing through him to go right inside. Blamenco stopped by his side, eyes still wide and disturbingly squeezed out, "What are you stopping for, kid?! He's inside!"

"But the sign said—"

"Fuck the sign, my brother is dying!"

And that exclamation just jolted Ace enough to burst inside.

Inside, as it turns out, was some sort of a medicine storage room, with rows upon rows of cabinet. The sterile, chemical smell hit him at full force, but nothing truly made Ace stop in his tracks and drop his jaw than the sheer amount of ghost inside. There's so many of them, in all shape and sizes, and in between them he could recognize Izou with the crooked neck and blue-grey skinned Haruta, who was kneeling down and frantically calling out to something concealed from Ace by the large cabinets.

Not that he has time to fully take the view in, when the ghost next to him shouted, "He's here!" and all of those ghost turned simultaneously right at him.

That almost made Ace stumble back again, if he didn't caught sight of the leg peeking out from the far side cabinet, one that's decidedly human enough and most importantly, lying on the floor, possibly dying like the ghost had said.

The freckled male dashed over, almost stumbling against a few cabinets of pills and whatnots, and decided that despite all of the ghost and their horrid states, nothing made his heart plummets more than the sight of the only living human being in this crowd.

Though, if he's not quick enough, he didn't think the guy will be alive all that long.

Only less than an hour ago, the man had been obviously standing even if not entirely healthy. Now, he was lying on his side in a fetal position, hair were entirely plastered to his forehead and temple due to how sweaty he was, face white as sheet and lips almost blue with weak yet laborious pants escaping between them. His arms were both curled around his stomach weakly, yet his hand was clutching on to his shirt so hard his knuckles turned white, as if he's in excruciating pain.

Just a few feet away, Ace could caught sight of what indeed could be mistaken to be a pile of day old blood, but from the pungent smell, that's probably the bloodied vomit Blamenco mentioned earlier.

"Oh shit," the raven haired male exclaimed, now entirely focused on the seemingly unconscious figure on the floor rather than the fact that there's at least dozens of dead souls right above him, all of them who chattered and shouted in panic. Crouching over him, Ace could see that the doctor's entire body was shaking like a leaf and yet the moment his hand brushed against a patch of skin, he almost cursed again by how much the man was burning up.

As Ace slipped an arm underneath his nape to lift him up, something clattered onto the floor. A hospital staff ID, he realized, belonging to one 'Dr. Marco Newgate'.

"..kind of doctor can't take care of himself?" he mumbled just under his breath, pocketing the ID before he slipped his other arm below the man's bended knees before lifting him up.

And almost stumbled because one, he's pretty sure he saw earlier that the doctor was at least taller than him and for a man his size, Ace didn't think he was going to be this damn light. And two, because the moment he lifted his head, he was looking up at a massive elderly man looking down at him with a half burned face and a solemn expression. At least Sabo's burnt skin was still that, a skin. This man, there was nothing but flesh underneath the char, and he's so sure he could actually see the man's skull underneath all of the molten mess.

There's only a couple of times where a ghost state can actually make him flinch. This is the one time where he felt his stomach drop and gasp in horror.

Which, in hindsight, is rude as hell, but if the elderly man was offended, he didn't say anything. His eyes - both the intact one and the half melted one - were locked to the man he's carrying, lips pulled down in grief in contrast to his magnificent half-moustache. The longer he stared, the more Ace thought he had seen him somewhere, or at least he might've been familiar with this man once upon a time.

Had he really? Maybe it'll be easier to tell if half of his face wasn't burnt away.

"Marco," he heard the old ghost's mournful voice calling, his eyes making him look ancient with the amount of sorrow, "I'm sorry for being so powerless, my son,"

The body in Ace's hold barely twitched, aside from the continuous laborious pants that's starting to grow weak.

Once again, he ran - and again felt some concerned fascination over just how light this grown man's body is - and it didn't take long for Ace to leave the empty halls where the medicine room had been to arrive in a more crowded waiting room of sorts, complete with its own reception area and much to his relieve, doctors and nurses, "Help!" he shouted, gaining their attention immediately, "I need some help here!"

One of the nearest doctor, with a long goatee and an even longer ponytail rushed towards him with a severe expression, "What happened? What— Dr. Newgate!"

The events that proceeded felt all too familiar for Ace, only instead of the usual routine, there was the fortunate lack of burning building in the background and the 'victim' that was quickly relinquished from him was, in fact, not burned, though possibly fighting for his life all the same, "He also vomited… i don't think it was entirely blood, but it looked like it, only brownish like it's day old, but with specks of red ones. Might be something internal,"

One of the doctors, an elderly - really, really elderly - woman glanced at him with critical eyes, then gave him a nod, "Thank you, boy. That's helpful," In a voice full of authority, the elderly doctor called for a stretcher, and with the sort of organized chaos only hospital staff can work under, Ace watched as Doctor Newgate was laid down and wheeled away by a group of doctors and nurses.

Unbeknownst to all of them, Ace watched as the myriad of ghosts from the medicine room earlier followed right behind them, making the hallways seem much more crowded than it actually is.

It was a commotion, and suddenly, it was silence.

"Thank you for finding him," he heard from his left, and saw the first doctor that saw him earlier still standing there. He rubbed his long goatee, sighing, "I… As his colleague, i truly am grateful. This is not the first time Doctor Newgate was found like this. Last time, if it hadn't been for a coincidence, no one would've found him too," the doctor fell silent, staring off to the direction where the entire group of doctors and nurses had left earlier, "He hasn't been the same since…,"

Instead of finishing his sentence, the doctor shook his head and took one of Ace's hand for a cordial handshake, "Never mind that. Thank you again. My name is Dr. Aladine, with Dr. Newgate incapacitated, if there's anything you need some help with, please don't hesitate to ask for me. Was there something you were discussing with him before he… before this?"

"Oh, uh, it's fine. I'm just here to visit my friend. I uh," Ace bit his lower lips, mind working a mile a minute. He couldn't just say he's directed to find the guy by ghosts, "I just got lost trying to go back and accidentally found him,"

Dr. Aladine nodded, but he seems quite distracted to fully listen to Ace's words. Well, seeing one of your co-worker fainting in the workplace - not for the first time, apparently - could shook up some people he supposed, even if you work in a high-tension environment such as the hospital. He know he couldn't keep his cool entirely when he found out one of his co-workers were injured in line of work, "I see. Then we are truly fortunate, then,"

He left not long afters when his pager went off, leaving Ace to stand in that now all too quiet hallways on his own, all the excitement and adrenaline squeezed out of him.

"Thank you,"

Okay, maybe not quite alone. He turned to his right, and almost jumped again when he sees the giant of a ghost from earlier by his side, staring solemnly to the end of the halls where the commotion earlier had disappeared to, "Uh, don't mention it," Ace muttered awkwardly, just now realizing just how massive the man truly was. And how, within every inch of that massive body, he could see various of wounds, some of them small and seemingly old, but the ones that caught his eyes were large, fatal and brutal. The large, empty hole on his chest, allowing one to see right past him, was probably the most disturbing of all.

…No, it's still his face. That weirdly familiar face that's half melted away.

In all of his life, Ace learned that a ghost would take form of their body the second they died, and usually, that made it easy for him to tell just how they met their unfortunate end. Someone with a stab wound like Thatch obviously died of blood loss, some with no marks either died peacefully in their sleep or died of certain illness, and there are so many various ways to tell, but most had been clear just what the reason for their deaths had been.

This man? Ace really couldn't tell. All of the wounds were fresh at the time of his death, as if he suffered all of them at the same time, or at least, could withstand most of them until one proves to be too much. The hole in his chest was his guess, possibly from blood loss, but it could also be the fact that he could see that the man's lungs and heart were crushed.

(He supposed he should be more surprised that a man this old could withstand so much damage to his body before giving up, but then he grew up with Grandpa Garp in his life and Ace thinks his brain just sorts of accepts that all old men are stronger than your average teenagers)

Slowly, the old man nodded, before he started to walk away, his steps slow yet powerful even in death.

Left to his own devices, Ace wasn't entirely sure what to do. He thought of going back to Sabo's room, because despite how fast time felt between the moment Thatch found him to the time he watched the large old man walked away, the entire thing had happened in the span of 15 minutes. That should be ample time for Sabo and Koala to worked things out of their system, and maybe they're wondering where he was already.

But on his way back to the hospital wing where Sabo's room was, Ace was stopped on his tracks at the sight of a curled figure sitting against the wall, one that people kept walking past as if they didn't notice them.

The curled figure lift up their face, and Ace realized why. It's Haruta, one of the ghost behind Doctor Newgate. There's tears running down his face, despite him being so sure that bodily function no longer applies to spirit, and it was just such a sad sight that Ace couldn't help but approach him, "Hey,"

Haruta looked up, and as soon as he saw who it was, he scrambled to stand up and spread both of his arms as he lunged for Ace. It's a good thing that he's incorporeal because he went pass Ace's body, though his arms hung around the raven haired male's shoulder as if they're truly hugging. Whatever it is he was saying was unintelligible between his numerous sobbing, and this up close, Ace couldn't help but notice just how young he is. Not as young as the girl he saw in the hospital's entrance, but he looked younger than Ace, at least around Luffy's age, and considerably much younger than the other ones he had seen with Doctor Newgate so far.

With a soft sigh, Ace reached up just over Haruta's shoulder to give him a consoling pat, "Is… did something happen to Dr. Newgate?"

"I don't know," Haruta told him in a nasally voice, perfectly depicting a living being with stuffed nose, "They're checking him over, but i don't want to know. I don't want to see Marco like that. I hate seeing my big brother like that,"

Unable to think of anything to say, Ace simply kept his silence and kept rubbing his back. Come to think of it, earlier, Blamenco also called Dr. Newgate his brother. Could it be that they're all related?

After missing a passing visitor who stared at him oddly - Ace supposed he looked like he's standing with his hand hovering for no reason - he opted to sit down on the nearby row of chair, Haruta curling up to himself again next to him.

"We all died 5 years ago," Haruta started, his voice a low murmur, glancing up at Ace, "Did you hear about, uh, what did they call it? Oh, right, the Newgate Arson?"

Ace, in fact, did, and he didn't think there's anyone who didn't. It was the biggest news all around Foosha, even all over the country of Raftel; Conglomerate and philanthropist Edward Newgate and his entire family were all killed in a single night due to a major fire in his estate mansion in one of Foosha's more secluded district. It shook up society at wide, considering how well known the family's patriarch had been and how horrifying the entire incident was, with every media outlet blared about it for months, ranging from the actual reporting of the incident, to conspiracy theories about a family wide massacre.

Aside from that, Edward Newgate had been his father's oldest business partners, and they're apparently close enough that Ace remembered his father going to the funeral to give a eulogy. And when Ace decided to join the fire department not long after, his mother had been worried sick, using the reminder of that incident to ask him to reconsider. A year later, the mass arson around Foosha started, and Ace remembered hearing his chief in the department complaining about the media trying to link the Newgate fire with the recent arsons, calling it a 'putrid attempt in mass hysteria and sensationalization'.

Oh.

Oh, that's why the old man from earlier felt so familiar.

"That was Edward Newgate, and you're his family members," Ace gasped, realization dawning on him, "The doc's last name is Newgate too. …Wait, i thought the news says that everyone died—"

Haruta shook his head, "No, not everyone. Out of all of us, Marco was the only one who still survived. After i first wake up and we all found each other dead, it was sad but we're also glad that at least one of us made it out alive, you know?" he sniffled, choking back a sob, "But, then, it's like Marco didn't even want to be alive. Everyday, every single day for 5 years, we have to keep watching him waste away, like he's killing himself without noticing and there's nothing we could do about it. Every night he'll cry out for us, and lately he doesn't even try to pretend like he wants to go on…,"

Ace watched him wipe his nose with the sleeve of his shirt, which he notices now had some burnt patches on them. He had seen bodies that died in fire, especially through all of the arsons as of the late. Fuck, he didn't want to think about how all of the Newgates must've felt like when they first woke up to find nothing but their body's charred remains. Haruta's death from asphyxiation must've been from him inhaling too much carbon dioxide, instead of any sort of strangulation like Ace had first thought.

Somehow, that line of thought there left a bad taste in his mouth.

With another noisy, wet swipe on his nose, Haruta spoke again, "It hurts seeing him like that. And it hurts even more that there's nothing we can do about it. We can't touch him or anything around him, and he can't see or hear us,"

There's a blur of motion from his side and suddenly Haruta was in front of him, ashen face all too close to Ace's own with his teary eyes open wide, "But you… you can see us! And you're still alive, so he can see you!" he lifted both of his hands to grab on to Ace's shoulders, and the reason why Ace could tell was because that area suddenly felt chilly, like there's a cold wind hovering over him, "Can't you do it for us? Can't you help us take care of him the way we couldn't anymore?"

Ace blinked, feeling slightly dazed over the sudden movement, "I— Look, i felt bad about everything he and you guys went through, but i don't know—"

"Please!" he was cut off before he could continue, "Please, Marco didn't have anyone else but us! We're all adopted by Pops, without any other family. We always had each other's back but now that we can't take care of him anymore, if we can't be there for him anymore, he's absolutely alone in this world! We had hoped that he'd find someone else, but he completely closed himself away from the world, and there's nothing we can do to stop him! So please—"

He hadn't finished talking when, in the same manner Blamenco suddenly appeared during his conversation with Thatch, one of the ghost he remembered seeing surrounding Dr. Newgate appeared. The man was tall and extremely well built - though not as much as Edward Newgate himself - with a stern expression that melted when he caught sight of Haruta, "There you are," he spoke gentle in a gruff voice, speaking of deep familiar affection, "Are you alright, Haruta?"

"Kingdew," Haruta cried out, releasing Ace to lunge towards the newcomer instead. Ace found it rather interesting to see that when ghost touch each other they didn't bypass their bodies the way they would when touching a living human, "How's Marco? Is he okay? He's not… he's not going to be joining us, is he?"

Kingdew shook his head, sighing, "I don't really get all of the medical mumbo jumbo, but it doesn't look like it's anything they couldn't handle. It's okay, baby brother, i don't think Marco will be with us anytime soon," when Haruta began to sniffle again, he bended down just enough to pull the younger into a hug, and that was when Ace caught sight of the deep gash, blood and cracked skull staining the top of his blond crown. Blunt force trauma, but his skin was equally grey as Haruta's. If that wound on his head didn't kill him, then it must've knocked him out while the smoke in the fire must've been what actually caused his death.

When they separated, the beefy man turned to look at Ace, and bowed his head, "I haven't had the chance to say it, but thank you again for saving Marco's life. Who knows what could've happened to him if there had been no one who can save him,"

All of these gratitude was starting to make him feel awkward. He knows he should be used to it, with his line of work, but he never did get used to receiving compliments from strangers, 'No, i'm glad to hear that he's going to be okay,"

"Hey, i never got your name," Haruta spoke again, voice still a little raspy and tearful, "I'm Haruta Newgate, and this is my older brother Kingdew. You've met Thatch and Izou earlier, and Blamenco too, and there's still quite a lot of us,"

"I'm Ace. Ace Gol," the freckled man introduced himself, after a second of deliberation.

Haruta nodded, smiling slightly, "Okay, Ace," the smile faded slightly when Haruta averted his gaze, fidgeting with his hand, "I'm sorry for being so forceful earlier, but please understand. We won't force you if you don't want to, but we're desperate," his lips began to quiver again, "We just… we just want Marco to be alright,"

"Ooh, there he is!"

"Hey, Ace!"

It was much later than he thought it would be when Ace made his way back to Sabo's hospital room, and during his absence, both his parents and Luffy had come to visit. There's also the permeating smell of grease filling the air, and he didn't even need to look at the boxes on the bedside table and Sabo's disgustingly trying to chow down on a jumbo double bacon cheeseburger to know what's going on, "Finally got someone to bring you your fast food, didn't you?"

Through a mouthful, Sabo nodded and mumbled something in absolutely joy. Though obviously disagreeing with this turn of event, Koala still patiently wiped the corners of his mouth from any excess tomato sauce.

From where she sat on the room's sofa, Rouge lifted a container full of her homemade cookies and gestured for him to come sit by her side. Roger had taken resident on the other chair in the room and was facing the TV to watch something on the news channel, "Now where have you been? Koala and Sabo said you've been out for quite some time,"

"Just trying to buy a snack and find something to eat," Ace lifted the candy bar he purposefully bought to complete his excuse from his pocket. He didn't think he had been away all that long, but he didn't really want to come back just yet after his talk with Haruta and had taken a walk around the hospital's outside garden to clear his head from today's happenings. Ace sat right next to his mother to snatch up one of the offered cookies. It was hazelnut mix, not really his favorite but it was Sabo's.

"Hey, Dragon can't come today because of the town hall reparation, but he sends his regards," Roger suddenly said while staring to his phone screen, likely texting with Dragon. He then lifted his head up, glanced between the three younger men in the room and grinned mischievously, "And his father,"

"What?! Grandpa's coming?!" Luffy jumped from the corner that he had occupied, almost dropping the gaming console he had been playing, "Oh nooo, why didn't dad say anything! He's still mad about the D i got on my math test! Aaagh, i should've brought Zoro or Usopp as backup here!"

"Luffy! You got a D?!"

Please, Marco didn't have anyone else but us!

His family might be fairly small, but together, they made a rambunctious bunch. His mother and father were a loving, rowdy couple and Ace had to grow up in that sort of environment, and with Luffy's father and Ace's maternal uncle, Dragon working in the government as a high ranking official, they always took him in like a second son ever since he was young. Sabo, as Ace's good friend since young, has always been included in the trio of children his parents pretty much take in as their own, a relationship even more cemented by the fact that Sabo now worked as Dragon's assistant in the office.

Every night he'll cry out for us, and lately he doesn't even try to pretend like he wants to go on.

And it was this close familial bond that kept Ace going to this day. Even when most of the world ridiculed and shun him for his 'difference', he knew he'd always these people to rely on. Ace have his parents who'd welcome him and accept him with open arms, his mother with a gentle smile and a plate of baked goods, his father with a pair of ears to lend and a boisterous laugh that makes him think everything will be alright. Ace knows that his 'brothers', Luffy and Sabo will always have his back through thick and thin, as they always did through the years.

He knows that this group of people, while small, means everything to him, and with them, he'd always have somewhere to belong.

We always had each other's back but now that we can't take care of him anymore, if we can't be there for him anymore, he's absolutely alone in this world!

If he suddenly lost all of this in a single night… His father, his mother, his brothers, his family…

His stomach hurts just thinking about it.

"Ace, where are you going?"

"Sorry, i need to take care of something," abruptly, Ace stood up and dashed towards the door again - thought not before snatching 2 more of his mother's cookies - and stopped on the door just long enough to yell out, "I'll be back soon, i just forgot something!"

The door closed, stared by 5 pairs of confused stares, "Now what's gotten into that boy?" Rouge huffed, "Honestly, he's like a whirlwind sometimes,"

From his chair, Roger shrugged, "Who knows, maybe he saw an old lady ghost and wanted to talk to her or something. You know he does that sometimes,"

"NO GHOST TALK IN THIS ROOM, THANK YOU, I FORBID IT!"

Welp, tell me what you think so far? And thanks for reading!