Summary: Ace is still learning how to be a brother when Luffy decides to drag him off to find that snake's nest. Is it him or is Luffy being especially stupid today? And reckless to top it all? Really, can't Luffy go a little easy on his newly acquired brotherly senses?

Characters: Ace, Luffy

A/N: This chapter was originally called Safety but then I changed it to Nii-chan because it was sweeter and a little bit more relevant but will be also forever known as Honeydee's chapter. This was by request and I hope it turned out ok. Anyway, this is my last chapter for about a month so I hope you all like it :) Also I'm not very used to writing something a little more lighthearted and suck majorly at action (which is why I almost never write any fights) so go a little easy on me.

Nii-chan

If Ace needed any more proof that Luffy couldn't sit still for the slightest amount of time, this would be it. He was trying to do something nice for a change, be a good brother. Learn some manners so he could thank the boy's savior. But even though Ace was supposed to be the impatient one, it seemed like Luffy was especially distracted and distracting today.

And when Ace decided to scold him for it…

"Hey, Ace! Yesterday, I found the nest of a giant snake, filled with huge eggs!"

… he tried to drag him off somewhere else.

"Let's go get them now!"

Never mind the fact that the older boy was doing this for him.

"Huh? Huge eggs?"

Even if he himself apparently wasn't all that focused either.

"No, I can't! I'm studying how to greet people!" Oh well, at least Ace was a little focused. But Luffy wasn't going to be denied the company of his brother so easily.

"I'll be in trouble if that huge snake catches me by myself! But I'll be fine if you're with me. So come on!" He said, his voice adopting a little whine. What the boy didn't know was that he was playing right at Ace's newly acquired brotherly instincts.

"Shut up!" In Ace's defense, they were still pretty new. "Go if you want to! I'm staying."

The 10-year-old had to suppress a groan when Luffy's smile turned into a frown. Could his eyes get any bigger? Those expressive, inky black eyes that were staring at him full of hope, silently asking him to come with him, threatening to fill with sadness if he refused… Nope. Nope. He had to do this. He couldn't waste Makino's time. He was staying.

"But I'll be fine if you're with me!"

"Ace! Help me out, it's a bear!"

Aw, shit.

He couldn't leave his brother alone again after that, could he?

"Fine," he groaned. "Sorry, Makino. Can we continue the lesson another time?" The woman nodded, chuckling a little and encouraged them to go.

On their way deep into the forest, where the nest was, Luffy was endlessly blabbering, so fast it was surprising he could breathe at all. Ace wasn't paying much attention, Luffy could really go on, changing the subject every minute or less, but he didn't tell him to shut up either. Normally, a punch in the head was reserved for every time Luffy became annoying… or even when he didn't. However, lately the freckled boy couldn't bring himself to hit the kid. I mean, unless he got really really annoying so much so that it was either hitting him or killing him and he didn't want his other brother to come haunt him for killing the youngest of the group. After all, Luffy had only recently recovered completely from his run in with that stupid bear (which Ace had sworn to catch and serve for dinner soon) and if the older boy was trying to act a tad nicer to him, then no one could really blame him. Not even Dadan, who Ace had more than once caught chuckling at his new way of treating his little brother. That old hag.

"Ace! Ace! There! Over there!" The younger boy jumped in excitement, pointing at a small clearing right up ahead. He wasn't kidding. Those eggs were huge! They could manage to carry only two eggs each. But hey, four eggs, right? That was cool.

"Shush, you idiot!" Ace told him in a harsh whisper. "What if the snake is near?"

Luffy tilted his head to the side, confused. "I heard that some snakes can't hear anything."

"Yeah, some snakes. How do you know this is one of them?" He didn't have a reply for that.

There was no sign of the snake anywhere, so the boys cautiously neared the eggs. Ace placed his pipe on the ground next to the nest and proceeded to check the egg to see the weight and how they could possibly carry them, as well as look for any signs of cracks or signs that they could hatch anytime soon.

"Oof! It's heavy…" Luffy whispered whilst trying to lift one of them. His rubber arms actually stretched downwards, refusing to handle the weight. Ace sighed. Make that three eggs. Tops.

"We're not going to be able to carry them all. Just grab that one, I'll get two and we'll go… If we have time we'll come get some more, okay? Hurry, before the snake comes back," he told him and tried to get a good hold on the two he was self-assigned.

A nervous chuckle was heard from the younger boy. Ace frowned but didn't turn around. "Hey, Ace… We can't exactly do that…"

"Why not?"

"B-because… umm… the snake's already here."

Ace's head snapped to his brother. He did a double take that would have been comical weren't the two kids in such an awkward situation. Eyes widening slowly, he took in the state his brother was in. Luffy was staring apologetically at him, all the while being gradually constricted by the giant snake that had finally made its appearance.

"You idiot!" Ace hissed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You told me not to make any noise!"

"WHAT GOOD IS THAT IF THE SNAKE'S ALREADY HERE?"

"Oh."

"Oh. Yes, oh," he growled under his breath, along with some very colorful language and went for his pipe.

"Ace, wait! Take the eggs and go! Then come back for me!"

The freckled boy stared at the other incredulously. "Are you completely out of your mind? What part of huge snake is trying to kill you don't you get?"

Luffy grinned like an idiot and at that particular moment Ace truly believed his little brother was, in fact, a true idiot. "I'm made of rubber, Ace! It can't kill me like that. I can wait a few moments." Or maybe not.

While trying to get over the shock of Luffy actually having thought about something and that something making some actual sense, Ace took a moment to think about it himself. It was true, the rubber boy couldn't be killed by a snake constricting him. Heck, he didn't even seem to be in pain. But the idea of leaving him here with it for any amount of time, no matter how short it was…

"Forget it, I'm saving your ass first. Then we get the eggs."

"But, Ace… We won't be able to…"

"It doesn't matter!" he snapped, interrupting the kid. "I'm not leaving you here, so just forget it."

He wasn't going to get away with it that easily, though. "I can take care of myself for five minutes!"

All he got for his troubles was a pointed eye roll followed by a heated glare. "You're being constructed by a snake, Luffy! No, you can't take care of yourself!" Luffy flinched at that, the words obviously hurting him. Guilt settled in Ace's stomach and he cursed himself for being mean to him yet again. "Look, you said you'll be fine if you're with me, right?" he continued in an attempt to soothe the blow, his voice calmer and nicer than before. "You're safe when you're with me, so don't ask me to leave you alone, ok?"

A sigh of relief left him when the other nodded and he finally grabbed his pipe to go save that utter idiot he called his brother. He brought the pipe straight down to the snake, making it hiss and loosen its hold as it took in its newest target. Luffy saw this as his chance, gathered as much force as he could and stretched his arms to his brother who in return grabbed him and pulled him away from the reptile. Unfortunately, Luffy had used too much force and ended up toppling the other, causing him to drop his pipe. At least they got thrown considerably away from it.

"Be a little careful, will you?" Ace groaned.

"Sorry, Ace…" He muttered, scrambling to get up.

"You alright?" The older asked, lifting himself off the ground and then helping Luffy do the same. "Let's get the hell out of here," he added once the boy nodded.

"What about the eggs?" A really loud hiss from right behind them made him freeze. "Umm…"

"Let's just go, Lu." He took his brother's hand and went to lead him out of the forest until he remembered. "Oh, crap. My pipe."

"Leave it, Ace," Luffy whined.

Ace growled in frustration. "Keep going, I'll be there in a minute!" He pushed him towards the forest and ran to grab his pipe. The snake saw him coming and turned to him, all the while hissing loudly. Apparently it didn't like its eggs being disturbed.

Speaking of eggs, Luffy being the reckless fool he was, instead of listening to his brother ran towards the nest to pick up at least one of them. He refused to leave empty handed, especially when the snake was too distracted.

Ace in the meantime grabbed the pipe just in time to jump out of the way before the snake struck. He landed a meter away and tried to get up but the reptile had rounded on him again and was preparing another attack. With a swipe of his pipe, he hit it straight on the head and made a run for it.

He was already in the forest when he realized his brother wasn't at all in front of him. "Luffy!" he called, looking frantically around. It took a second for realization to come. "Oh, shit. Luffy!"

"Ace!" A voice came back from the clearing. "Ace, help!"

Wide, alarmed eyes turned to the voice. His blood rushing to his ears, he ran back, once even tripping on his feet. "Luffy!" That idiot, that total idiot, what was he thinking? Shit, Luffy, please be ok.

When Ace arrived back at the clearing he didn't know whether to laugh at or be terrified of what he was seeing.

Luffy had one of the eggs in his hands that made them stretch and hang lower than normal. He was clumsily running around the clearing, a panicked look in his face yet for some reason refusing to relieve himself of the weight and get away. Behind him, the snake was chasing him, hissing in anger, yellow eyes narrowed and threatening.

A spark filled the kid's eyes the moment he saw Ace standing there.

"A-Ace!"

"You fool!" He yelled, still in shock from the sight. "Drop it and run!"

"No!" was the stubborn reply. "I ruined your lesson for this! We're bringing back an egg!"

Ace looked taken aback at that. "What?" Was he serious? Did he really… "For heaven's sake, Lu, get away from there!" Seeing the other's stubbornness though, he started to run to him.

Before the kid had a chance to reply, his foot caught on a thick root of a nearby tree causing him to tumble and fall, the egg slipping from his grip and breaking. The snake wasn't too pleased about that. Ace's eyes widened at the murderous glare his little brother was given. "LUFFY!"

"Aw, man…" Luffy pouted, not having heard the other. Soon enough he caught up to the violent hissing behind him, though, and turned around, obsidian eyes enlarging in fear. "A… Ace…" He was frozen, his body unwilling to move anymore.

In a desperate attempt to distract the snake, Ace threw the pipe at it. It hit the target, but it didn't elicit any reaction other than a small hiss his way. Luffy breaking the egg pissed it off more than anything he could do.

Oh shit. Oh, no. Luffy. Luffy, run. Run. "LUFFY, RUN!"

"ACE!" Fear laced the younger's voice. Seeing the snake ready to strike, the boy, with tears gathering in his eyes, thrust his hands forward, secretly praying for his older brother to catch him.

Ace caught them instantly and pulled with all the strength he could master as if his life depended on it and then some more because Luffy's life depended on it and nothing was more important than that. The recoil would soon bring the boy to him but the snake… the snake was about to strike and… and… oh God, hurry. Come on, come on, come on, COME ON! LUFFY!

What just...?

Ace was aware of three things. One, he could still hear the snake somewhere near, making its way towards them. Two, he could feel his brother's weight against him, whimpering, whether from fear or from pain he didn't know. Three, even if he'd never admit it, he was too terrified to open his eyes and find out which one it was.

"A-Ace…?" Luffy's shaky voice brought him back from his thoughts. "It's coming over here again."

"Are… you alright?" he asked hesitantly, panting a little and ignoring everything else.

"Yeah..."

"Really?"

"Yes, Ace, and I'm so so sorry! Can we please go now?"

Ace opened one eye and looked at the shaking body in his arms. Luffy appeared relatively unharmed with only a few cuts and grazes on his arms and knees from the fall. The freckled boy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "You…"

Luffy looked at him with confusion in his eyes when he didn't finish his sentence. "Ace?"

"Let's just go. Come on."

With that he helped them both to their feet and finally made a run for it, pipe and eggs completely forgotten. Ace couldn't care less about either.

"Can you please tell me what on earth you were thinking back then?" Ace demanded later that day, far away from the nest and its occupants.

They were at the river after somehow ending up there during their run and remaining ever since. It was as good a place as any. As long as Luffy didn't fall in.

The raven-haired boy fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, not daring to look at the older. "I was just… I didn't… I didn't want to have wasted your time. You had things planned for today and I dragged you into this. It sucks that you let everything go for nothing. I wanted us to come back with an egg…" he admitted, his eyes cast down in shame.

Ace was looking at him, not quite believing what he was hearing. "You… You fool!" A punch came down to Luffy's head, causing him to whimper in pain and whine his brother's name. "Shut up, Lu! You risked your life for something as stupid as this? What the hell?"

"Well, yeah!" He immediately defended himself. "Plus, it was pretty distracted so it seemed easy…" he added, albeit more quietly.

Ace kneeled down to be at Luffy's level and stared straight into those huge, black eyes. "Luffy…" he called softly. "Don't ever do something so stupid again. It's not worth dying over the little stuff. Alright?"

"I'm sorry, nii-chan," Luffy mumbled and broke the eye contact, his eyes turning to his shirt again. He didn't get to see Ace's eyes widen a fracture at the word he had used or the small smile that followed.

With that smile still on his face, he ruffled Luffy's messy black hair and stood up. "It's ok, Lu. You hungry? What do you say I catch us something to eat?"

The grin Luffy gave him was enough to light up the whole world. But Ace didn't care about the whole world. As long as Luffy was here to light up his, he was satisfied. Because he was his little brother and he was never letting him go.

No matter how stupid he got.

A/N: Wow, this really is long. Once again, this is what happens when you people are so nice to me and give me lots of reviews. Honeydee, this one was for you, I hope it was close to what you were hoping for... If not, I'm really really sorry. For the record, I tend not to use japanese terms but I know you liked that one and this is your chapter after all. That'll be my last one for a while, so... see you guys in August! As always, thanks for reading and leave a review!