Chapter 6

When Ace woke up the next morning, he did so with phantom images still playing in front of his eyes. He squinted, trying to focus on the blurry faces, but they quickly faded as he became fully conscious. The teen spent a few minutes just staring blankly at the ceiling, not really thinking anything, until a glance at the clock on the far wall convinced him to actually get up.

With a muffled groan, Ace rolled over, only realizing his mistake when he fell off the couch and hit the floor flat on his back. He muttered a few choice words and then got to his feet, swaying slightly as the blood rushed to his head and sent his vision swimming.

When it cleared he walked over to the small basket of his belongings and rummaged through the clothes, eventually pulling out a red t-shirt and another pair of black shorts. He then dug around for another minute until he found the blue pouch that he could attach to his shorts. It took him less than ten seconds to thread the straps through the loops on the thigh of the shorts and then shook out the piece of clothing with a pleased grin.

Two minutes later he was in the shower, sending Sabo a mental apology as he stole the other man's shampoo and body wash to clean off. He didn't bother with the hot water and was oddly pleased to find that the mirror hadn't fogged up in the time it had taken him to clean off.

Hygiene taken care of, Ace made his way to the kitchen as he toweled off his hair. He checked through the cabinets with one hand and slung the towel over his shoulder with the other. Seeing that Sabo hadn't made himself breakfast - or Ace, for that matter, not that Ace had been expecting him to - Ace began looking through his options.

Ace settled on a bowl of cereal with fruit on top, some toast that probably would've been better if it had been eaten a day prior, and a glass of juice. As he carried his breakfast to the table he realized that there was a note on the counter, and he grabbed that too.

"'Gonna be home later than usual, try not to get into too much trouble'," Ace read around a mouthful of fruit. "O-kay. Not like there's much I can do to get into trouble."

The unwelcome memory of the man in the market surfaced and Ace pushed it aside with a brief frown. Why couldn't he get that man's face out of his head?

When he finished, Ace washed his dishes, putting them into their proper racks in the dishwasher before grabbing a few granola bars and putting them into the pouch attached to his shorts.

Like hell he was staying indoors; from what he could see out the windows, it was a beautiful day. There was no way he was going to watch other people enjoy it from behind some stupid window.

Ace spent a minute debating where he should go and then decided he would go with the flow and make it up as he went. He took one last swig of juice and then headed out, making sure to shut off the lights and lock the door behind him.

He'd already eaten one of his granola bars by the time he made it to the sidewalk, and after throwing away the wrapper he began to walk, letting the crowds carry him. They swept him along, across streets and past shops, down shallow slopes and through a couple plazas.

Slowly the crowds began to thin, until Ace found himself largely alone at the entrance to the park he'd briefly explored the last time he'd been out and about. Figuring that he might as well see what the place had to offer - and it was probably better than wandering about aimlessly again, anyway - Ace walked through the open wrought iron gates.

The green grass and trees were far more pleasing to the eye than the buildings just outside the park, and Ace took a deep breath, enjoying the semi-fresh air.

He walked around for a few minutes to just take in the sights and to figure out the layout of the park, but he rapidly realized that the park was far bigger than he'd first thought. Still, he had the general gist of how it was organized.

Ignoring the couple on a nearby bench that seemed far more interested in each other than the world around them, Ace strolled towards the large open field in the center of the park. His eyes were immediately drawn to a flash of red, and he couldn't help raising one eyebrow when he realized that the vibrant crimson hair belonged to one of the men playing soccer.

Settling down on a convenient bench, Ace enjoyed the shade of a nearby tree as he watched the game. Most of the players didn't seem to be playing soccer; there was far more physical tackling than dribbling, and from the curses he could hear being hurled through the air, Ace judged that it wasn't exactly a friendly match.

The guy with red hair was the loudest of all, and seemingly the strongest. It wasn't long before the warmth began to get to Ace, and if he adjusted his back just so, his position was actually very comfortable...

"Hey, wake up."

Ace cracked one eye open, mentally wondering when he'd fallen asleep until he realized who was standing over him: the redhead.

"You need something?" Ace asked. He'd been enjoying that nap, even if he couldn't remember starting it. Plus, his dreams had been pretty cool, full of light and fire. He wanted to go back there if only to experience that rush again. Then again, trying to have the same dream twice in a row was just dumb.

"Yeah. One of our guys just broke his leg and can't play. We need another."

"And I've been drafted?"

"Yeah."

Ace sighed, opening his other eye and slowly getting to his feet. Standing, he realized that he was shorter than the other guy by at least five inches. Pushing down the irritation that stemmed from actually being shorter than someone other than Sabo, Ace assumed a relaxed slouch.

"What, so you make a habit of pulling in strangers to your games? What're you gonna do if I say no?"

The redhead just smirked. "You're gonna play."

"And if I don't?" Ace challenged. "Besides, there are other people here, right? Like them." He pointed to the small playground on the opposite end of the open field, where a small group of people were assembled, staring at a boy that appeared to be doing some form of acrobatics on the jungle gym and bars.

The man glanced in the direction and then back to Ace, something unidentifiable flickering in his eyes before it vanished. "We don't play with dumbasses like that."

"Dumbasses?"

"Tsk." The man looked annoyed that Ace was asking him a question. "Idiot comes here almost every day and screws around. Nearly cracks his head open every time. So, dumbass."

Ace was instantly suspicious. There was something more to those words, something he was tempted to call respect, but he didn't have the time to pick it apart right then.

"Ah. And there's really no one else?" Ace knew he was going to play. After all, he'd watched them for long enough, and he was bored. He was just enjoying being stubborn, since Sabo usually managed to manipulate him into capitulating within the first few sentences.

"They all left when our game stopped," the man snarled, taking a step closer to Ace and emphasizing their differences in height. "So? You playin' or -"

"Kid, let it go." The new arrival, a blond man wearing a hockey mask of all things (though it looked strange to Ace), put a hand on the newly-named Kid's shoulder. "We don't need you to bring the cops here again. It's getting tiresome."

"I'll do whatever I damn well please," Kid growled, but Ace could see in his posture that he was listening to the blond-haired man.

"Relax, I'll play," Ace finally said. "I don't have anything better to do, really."

Kid looked ready to punch him from sheer irritation. "Why didn't you just say that? Fuckin' fine, you're on Killer's team."

The blond-haired man waved almost sarcastically, and Ace walked up to him, holding out a hand. "He seems nice," the amnesiac commented easily. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ace. Is your name really Killer?"

Killer nodded, shaking Ace's hand. "To you, yes. Thank you for agreeing to play; it would have gotten messy otherwise."

Ace glanced over to where Kid was stalking over to his team, hands waving. "Yeah, I got that impression."

He then realized that Kid's left arm was gleaming and mentally kicked himself. The guy has a prosthetic arm! Ace was instantly curious, but checked his curiosity. It wouldn't be polite to ask about that, especially given how short-tempered the redhead seemed to be. As strong as he knew he was, Ace didn't enjoy the prospect of fighting two soccer teams' worth of guys at once.

In the end, Ace got put in the midfield. After taking a brief second to explain the rules - which sounded different than the ones that Ace had already known - Killer went to forward, facing off against Kid. Ace glanced around, quickly memorizing who was on his team and who wasn't; there weren't really jerseys, and Ace had a feeling that not knowing that information would lead to some painful consequences in the near future.

"GO!" Kid shouted, and the game began.

It started out simply enough; Ace got into position and fielded the ball as best he could. Sometimes he felt as though he knew what he was doing, and sometimes he felt utterly lost. Luckily, his teammates - and his opponents - seemed to be experiencing the same thing.

The first time someone tried to tackle him, Ace ducked out of the way and passed to Killer, who nearly scored only to get blocked by last-second interference from Wire.

The second time, a man managed to clip Ace and send them both crashing to the ground while a cheer erupted from his opponent's teammates. Ace felt the breath get driven from his lungs but hopped back to his feet as soon as he was able, but he wasn't nearly fast enough to catch the man who had taken the ball.

As the game wore on, Ace began to understand the unsaid rules about tackling: no doing it from behind, no going for the head, no tackling someone without the ball, and no more than one person can tackle another at a time.

The substitute continued to dodge and weave around tackles when he was able, and he usually managed to stay on his feet otherwise. His injuries occasionally flared up, but the pain was dulled by time. He was mostly healed, and that made him happy.

There were also several moves besides tackling that Ace was pretty sure weren't legal. He spotted tripping, grabbing, hair-pulling, and even spin moves that made him dizzy just looking at them.

How were these people not all in the hospital yet?

When one of the players whom Ace didn't know the name of scored the fifth goal for Killer's team, Kid called halftime. Everyone trickled over to a pile of water bottles haphazardly stacked by the side of the center line. Ace caught one tossed to him by Killer and took a deep drink, which almost immediately made him feel better.

The break was short; Ace could tell that these people had done this many times before because they were incredibly efficient, cleaning up after themselves - mostly - with great speed and returning to the field in short order.

Ace took one last drink, tossed the now-empty water bottle into a nearby recycling bin, and jogged back onto the field.

The game began again, and seemed to be even more intense than it had been in the first half.

"Stay focused!" Kid yelled right as he rammed into Ace with enough force the send the black-haired boy flying. Ace saw sky then ground then sky again, and as his vision stopped swimming and his lungs began to work once more he sat up, seeing Kid doing the same a few feet away.

"Nice tackle," Ace acknowledged. Kid shot him a savage grin as he rolled out his shoulder. Ace glanced at his arm, taking a second to appreciate the kickass design, and then returned his gaze to Kid's face.

"Good to see you haven't run away yet."

Ace snorted. "Yeah, like I'd do that. Your team is still losing, you know."

"Shut up."

Just like that the brief lull in the action ended and the game picked up again. Ace managed to get a shot off from just outside the box and the ball slammed against the crossbar, going straight down before getting tapped in by Killer.

"That's ten!" Killer declared. "You lose, Kid!"

"Bullshit!" Kid called back, but he was stretching and his team was making no move to return the ball to the middle. Ace absently rubbed his tattoo, both out of habit and because he'd landed oddly on his arm after one tackle and the pain was still subsiding.

"Nice game, kid," one of Ace's teammates said, clapping Ace on the back and making him stagger a step.

And suddenly he wasn't at the soccer field anymore.

"Nice try, Luffy! Maybe next time you'll get him."

A much younger Ace snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down the two boys in front of him. "Yeah right. You're dreaming, Sabo. Luffy'll never catch up to me."

"Yeah I will! In three years I'll be as old as you are!"

"In three years I'll be three years older too, you idiot! Think before you talk!"

Sabo laughed and patted Ace on the back as he walked past him. "C'mon, Ace, loosen up! You know Luffy's doing his best."

Ace rolled his eyes but, when Luffy walked past him, the older boy hesitantly said, "Good try."

The smile Luffy gave him was blinding.

Ace slowly opened his eyes, the names and details already fading from his mind as he returned to the present. He promptly realized that he'd collapsed onto the ground and that Kid and Killer were crouched over him, talking in low tones.

"I'm tellin' you, I didn't do this!"

"Why else would he randomly die like that?" Killer hissed, and Ace guessed that he was giving Kid a look from behind his mask. "Seriously, know your own strength!"

"I do know my own strength, dumbass! I didn't kill him!"

"I'm not dead," Ace muttered.

"See?" Kid said. "He's not dead." Ace waited. "Hey!" Something hard hit him in the side and he grunted. "Why the hell're you layin' around, then? Get the hell up before someone calls the damn cops on me again!"

Again?

"Why did you collapse?" Killer asked as Ace sat up and brushed the grass from his hair and clothes.

"Narcolepsy."

"Pretty extreme case," Killer commented. Ace sighed.

"Yeah."

"Don't just fall down like that," Kid growled, standing up and crossing his arms. "I'm already being watched."

As the redhead walked away, Killer leaned towards Ace and whispered, "He was a little worried."

"Really?" Ace asked, raising one eyebrow. "I couldn't tell."

Killer shrugged. "If you'd died, we wouldn't have anyone to play with next week."

Ace accepted the invitation for what it was and grinned. "That would be a shame, wouldn't it?"

He got the feeling that Killer was smiling, and then the blond walked away. Ace watched as the entire soccer team - teams? - left the park, taking the ball with them.

Then he sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets and going back the way he'd come. The game had taken care of almost two hours of his time, and it was about time he returned to the apartment. He had to clean up the sitting area, anyway; the couch was probably a mess, too, since he'd just been throwing his dirty clothes on one end of it. Which reminded him, he had to do laundry.

He glanced up to see a man staring at him. "What?"

The man shook his head, a strange, almost impressed expression on his face. "You're real lucky, kid."

Ace resented the "kid" comment - he wasn't a child anymore, thank you very much - but the man's comment intrigued him. "Why?"

"That was Eustass Kid."

"So?"

"You don't know who he is?" The man's expression was now full of disbelief. "You're a crazy one, all right." His voice lowered, like he was imparting some great secret. "He's one of the most wanted gang leaders in the city, infamous for his cruelty."

Ace shrugged, pocketing the information but not really finding the significance in it. Deep down, he'd had the impression that he was stronger than Kid; he couldn't explain how he knew that, but he did. "Well, that explains a lot."

And he kept walking.

Ace couldn't quite remember how to get back to Sabo's place, so he ended up wandering around a lot more than he had originally intended. Luckily, there was still plenty of daylight, so he didn't worry about somehow breaking the curfew that Sabo had set.

The street he was on wasn't particularly busy; there were still plenty of people, but it wasn't stifling. Plus, the buildings provided ample shade so Ace didn't have to squint.

"You dumbass! You can't eat that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!"

"But Saaaaaanji, I'm huuuungry. I only got a little money at the park!"

"That's because you were encouraging the kids there to copy you, and you know they can't do that!"

"I was teaching the simple stuff."

"Your version of 'simple' is their version of 'dangerous'."

Ace raised an eyebrow at the arguing pair standing in front of a restaurant he didn't recognize. He glanced at the flowing script above the main entrance and saw that it read "Baratie". Sounded fancy, but it didn't seem to be in the right neighborhood. Then again, the closer he got, the more he could see in the windows; the place was crowded. Apparently it was pretty popular. Maybe the neighborhood didn't matter.

Bellowing from within the establishment had the blond man - who had been berating the black-haired boy - shouting back that he'd be there in a second.

Ace shook his head, decided that the entire matter wasn't his business, and strode past them with his hands in his pockets, muttering, "Excuse me -"

Only to feel his heart skip a beat in his chest as he passed the scrawny kid. The sudden feeling of overwhelming familiarity had Ace unable to move for a second. When he recovered he spun around so quickly he nearly gave himself whiplash, but by that time the blond man had already dragged his associate into the restaurant.

"Promise me you'll never die, Ace!"

"I promise!"

"Lu -" Ace began, taking a step forward, but just as soon as the sense of familiarity had appeared it vanished, leaving him feeling like a man lost at sea in front of the restaurant. Feeling a distinct sense of frustration and bitterness, Ace turned around and continued walking, but he kept the image of that kid's face in his memory.

Where the hell had he seen that boy before?

And what had he been about to say?

"I know him, Sabo! I know I do!"

"You've made that pretty clear, Ace," Sabo said indulgently. "But I can't really help you without a description or a name."

"Luffy," Ace said, sounding certain. The name had come to him mere minutes ago after hours of writing down possibilities and getting frustrated. "His name is Luffy, he's got black hair - kinda messy - and this stitched-up scar under his left eye."

Sabo mulled the description over for a few seconds before he sighed. "No one comes to mind off the top of my head, but I can get some of my people on it if you really think he's got some kind of connection to your past."

"He does," Ace growled. "I know he does. I just wish I knew what the hell it was."

"Same here," Sabo said with a small grin. "Anyway, you mentioned that there was another thing…?"

"Right," Ace said with a snap of his fingers. He tilted his chair back, popping the last bit of his meal into his mouth, chewing, and swallowing. "I went to the park earlier and met this Eustass Kid guy -"

Sabo choked out something that sounded suspiciously like, "What the fuck".

" - And we played some soccer. I got hit a few times - don't give me that look, my injuries are fine - but after I remembered something."

Sabo's mother-hen expression morphed into interest. "What was it?"

Ace made a vague gesture. "Don't get too excited. I forgot most of it almost immediately. There were three of us - me, and two other kids. All guys, but I can't remember their faces. We seemed to be close."

"Friends?" Sabo guessed. Ace shrugged.

"Dunno."

"Did you hear any names?"

"I think so. Can't remember them, though."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

The two remained silent for a minute, simply pondering the new information, before Sabo clapped his hands together. "Right then. You up for dessert?"

Ace grinned, the front legs of his chair crashing back onto the floor. "Hell yeah I am."

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