Ace groaned and rolled over, awoken by the rays of the morning sunlight leaking through the curtains. He rolled over, covering his face with the pillow.

"You staying in bed all day or what?" asked a female voice, and Ace turned his body towards it, forcing his eyes open. Sora was standing over his bed, already dressed in a very short, black, off the shoulder cotton dress. Her bra straps were visible and Ace saw that under the dress, she was wearing a pair of shorts, knowing that the cotton material barely covered anything. "Morning, studly."

"Why are you awake so early?" he groaned, his voice scratchy as he rolled over again.

"It's like, ten," Sora said, laughing. "And I'm going out with Marco today." Ace's attention was piqued with that last statement.

"Just Marco?" he asked, sitting up and facing her.

She smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Yes? We're going on a hike."

Ace noticed her worn out combat boots and the knapsack slung over her shoulder. Ace felt a thick bubble forming in his chest. It clogged his lungs, making it difficult to breathe, and the sticky feeling spread to his entire body, poisoning his blood and making his eyes burn. Was this jealousy? "Oh," was all he could say as he rubbed his eyes. "See you tonight then."

"We're gonna be out all day," Sora told him, and moved toward the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, probably."

Wanting her to stay for a few more seconds, Ace spoke. "Who's, ah, watching Kohaku today?"

"Hmm? Oh, I just told him to stay in today, no big deal," she said, waving Ace off. "He goes nuts if I'm not there watching him. That kid needs constant supervision."

"I can hang out with him if he doesn't want to stay in a bar all day," Ace offered. "He can show me around and we can grab some food, you know, the stuff you're supposed to be doing for a guest," Ace teased.

Sora rolled her eyes. "I didn't know you were dying to be shown around," Sora said, smirking. "And don't worry about Kohaku. You don't have to do that."

"But I want to," Ace said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He was used to waking up to take care of the ship, but never to take care of a kid. He had no idea what he was doing. He didn't know how to hang out with children. Sora seemed to be a little hesitant, but Ace spoke up again. "Don't worry. Think of this as step one into gaining your trust back."

The woman laughed. "Fine, go ahead," she said, and turned the doorknob, pulling open the wooden door.

"Have fun," Ace called after her, trying not to bite his words off as he wished her a pleasant day with another man.

"You, too," she said back, closing the door behind her.

Ace let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. What the hell did he just do? Volunteering to babysit while Sora was out with Marco – there were already three things wrong with that. One, Ace didn't have a clue how to babysit. Kohaku wasn't his brother, so it wasn't like he could smack him over the head; it wasn't like watching Luffy. Two, that beautiful woman was spending the entire day with Marco. And three, was Ace jealous of Marco?

The flame user shook his head. Marco was his nakama, not a competitor. Ace barely knew Sora. So what did it matter if she was going to be with Marco all day? Why should Ace even care?

But it did matter. And he did care.

Ace sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He pulled a loose white tank top from his bag and pulled it over his body. He mussed up his hair, stepped into an extra pair of slippers before standing up and heading out the door.

Although it was morning, there were already people at the bar, having breakfast. Ace sat at a barstool, stomach growling loudly.

"Hey again," greeted a voice, and Ace glanced up to see Kohaku sitting on a stool behind the bar.

"What's up?" Ace greeted, smiling. "Did your sister tell you on the way out?"

Kohaku shook his head.

"She's going out with Marco today so it's just me and you today, bro!" Ace said, shooting Kohaku a thumbs-up.

Kohaku laughed and nodded. "Okay. I was wondering why she left in a hurry."

Ace swallowed a lump in his throat. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I mean, I guess she was just rushing to meet Marco. I saw him leave earlier. She didn't even say bye."

"What's up with her and Marco?" he asked. He thought that she didn't like flowers, and Jozu said that she had rejected Marco and Thatch before.

The younger boy shrugged. "I dunno. She likes hanging out with Marco. They normally go out a lot when the Whitebeard Pirates come here. Well, I mean, not a lot, but they have these all-day things where she just makes me stay inside."

"Oh," Ace said again. "That's cool. Does she like him?"

Kohaku immediately shook his head. "Nope. Well, I mean, they're friends." He raised both of his eyebrows and smirked slightly. "Why?"

"Just asking," Ace said, shrugging like he didn't care. He needed to change the subject. "Anyway, uh, want some breakfast?" He patted the barstool next to him.

Kohaku seemed to have already forgotten about Sora and Marco as he hopped off his own barstool and moved around to sit next to Ace. A server came over to Ace. His nametag read, 'Eiichi'. "What can I get you?"

"The biggest, heartiest breakfast you got," Ace answered, and Kohaku grinned. "We're pretty damn hungry."

Eiichi laughed and nodded, scribbling it down on a paper. "King's Breakfast, then," he said, and stuck the tag in a window behind him. "We're pretty slow so it'll be out soon." Eiichi moved away to clean glasses and talk to another one of the pirates who was having breakfast. Ace couldn't help but find it amazing how they were accepted here like regular people.

"You sure you can even eat the King's Breakfast?" Kohaku asked, sounding skeptical. "It's pretty big; it normally feeds like, five people."

"Don't underestimate my ability to eat," Ace said, tapping Kohaku on the forehead. "I didn't have dinner last night, and besides, we're eating it together. You can help me out if I can't finish it."

Kohaku laughed and shook his head. "Sure."

"Hey, so I was thinking," Ace started, turning to Kohaku, who glanced up, listening intently. "Sora seems like a really good fighter. To have beaten Marco? That's pretty insane."

"Yeah, she's like the strongest person on the island. It's pretty awesome; she takes care of everyone," Kohaku said proudly, grinning. "No one messes with us 'cause she'd just mess them up."

"Does Sora have a devil fruit?"

Kohaku nodded. "Yeah. She's pretty good with it, too."

Ace wasn't surprised. There was no way that wind just happened to surround her in giant bursts. There had to be something else involved. "Which fruit?"

"Kaze Kaze no Mi," Kohaku answered instantly. "It's the um, wind fruit, so she controls the wind and stuff. She found it when—"

"King's Breakfast," Eiichi said, he and a cook dropping a giant platter in front of Ace and Kohaku. On it was several eggs and what looked like an entire pig's worth of bacon and sausages, along with a slab of steak, a mountain of rice and half a dozen pancakes.

Ace clapped his hands together, and Kohaku copied him, the two boys grinning at each other. Neither of them had any utensils. "Ready, kiddo?"

"Ready," Kohaku confirmed and like starved animals, Ace and Kohaku proceeded into tearing apart the King's Breakfast.

It was probably the best breakfast that Ace had ever had. It was so full of different flavors; the eggs were a little seasoned so that they were spicy and the bacon was a little sweet, and—

Ace's face dropped to the table with a loud thump and made Kohaku jump. He swallowed the piece of bacon he was working on and glanced at Eiichi who looked just as concerned. Kohaku poked a thin finger into the older man's shoulder. "Uh, Ace? Ace?"

"What happened?" Eiichi asked, wide eyed. "Is something wrong with the food?"

"I don't know, I mean, I'm okay," the younger boy said, his voice a little high due to the worry growing in his chest. Kohaku shook the second division commander. "Ace—"

Ace seemed to spur, rising from the table and shaking his head. He yawned a little and then continued to shovel more food into his mouth with his bare hands.

"What was that?" Kohaku asked, still shocked.

"What was what?" Ace responded, pausing from eating for a moment to stare at the younger boy in confusion.

Kohaku shook his head and laughed. "Never mind," he said, letting the man get back to eating.

It was a monstrous sight. For meal made for five people, it was literally destroyed by one man and a ten-year-old child. Kohaku had given up halfway through, getting full after only eating a little over a serving for one person. Kohaku felt like he was going to explode, or maybe throw up all over the bar floor from all the food he consumed. Ace, however, was still going, a starved lion going to town on a helpless gazelle. People sitting next to them even stopped to stare, eyes wide like dinner plates.

At the end, Ace wiped his finger on the plate, licking off the last of the crumbs and patting his belly. He wiped his hands off on a towel. "Excellent breakfast," he told Eiichi, who pressed his lips together and just nodded slowly, wondering how Ace was even still alive. Ace hopped off the barstool and messed up Kohaku's hair. "What's on the agenda today, man?"

"What?" Kohaku asked as though snapping out of a trance. Watching Ace eat had been a little disgusting, but it was also quite captivating, considering how quickly and how much the man really did eat. Kohaku couldn't bring to tear his eyes away.

"You're showing me around the town today or something. I don't know, we can go wherever you want," Ace said. "Hope you didn't get in too much trouble last night," he added, remembering that Sora had stolen Kohaku away from the beach.

"Nah, she scolds me a lot, but it's okay. She said I was supposed to go to sleep, but she let me hang out with Jozu, Thatch, and Marco until I got tired, so it was cool," Kohaku said, brushing it off. "She just likes to have me in sight. I'm surprised she said we could hang out today."

"She doesn't normally do that?" Ace felt a pride swell in chest, overtaking the sticky bubble of jealousy.

"No, not really. Most of the time, I'm at the bar anyway. She's normally here, too; she works from open to close."

"You don't have friends your age to hang out with?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow. They were leaving the bar now, greeted by the crisp morning breeze. Kohaku gestured to the left towards the beach, where the two continued walking.

"Oh, yeah, I do, but I only hang out with them sometimes. Sora seems calm-headed and stuff, but underneath it all, she's a big worrywart. I don't like to cause her trouble so I just don't go all the time."

Ace smiled. "You're pretty lucky, you know. I have a little brother, too, and I worry about him all the time."

Kohaku looked up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. He does whatever he wants, and I get upset at him for being reckless, but in the end, he's still my brother and I know I'm going to worry regardless. He knows that, too. Being the older sibling is a lot tougher than it seems. You have to be tough to protect your little bro, you know? I'm sure all her worrying is out of good intentions."

"I guess so," Kohaku shrugged, smiling a little from Ace's little talk.

"Where are we going anyway?" Ace asked.

The younger boy smiled. "Somewhere pretty cool."

Ace grinned at the boy's answer. Today was already looking to be a great day.

Ace actually enjoyed hanging out with Kohaku. He was ten, but he was fun to be with. Kohaku reminded Ace a lot of Luffy – free-spirited and the biggest dreamer he had ever met. They were leaving the village from the west now, and Kohaku seemed to remember something. "Check this out," he said, and lifted the sleeve of his shirt to show Ace a large brown scar. It was thick and ropey, like the wound he had gotten it from had cut through the muscle.

Ace raised his eyebrows. "Woah, where'd that come from?"

"These pirates raided our village a couple of years ago. I totally tried to fight, but it didn't work out so well," he said, laughing as though this was not a big deal. "Aneki got mad at me."

"That's pretty brave of you."

"I wanted to protect the village, but she swooped in and saved the day," Kohaku said, lowering his sleeve.

Kohaku looked a little dejected, but Ace patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, one day you'll be strong enough to protect Sora. Until then, just let her do the fighting. She's a very strong woman."

Kohaku just nodded and stopped in his steps. "Well, here we are."

Ace looked out in front of him, noticing a large set of tide pools. They had walked to the beach, but when Ace looked back, the town was nowhere in sight. He hadn't realized they had come so far.

"I leave my stuff here," Kohaku said, rushing to a nearby palm tree to pick up a small bamboo fishing pole. He handed another one to Ace, who looked at it for a moment, and then watched Kohaku leap onto the rocks.

"Hey, be careful," he half-warned the younger boy, before kicking off his slippers and pulling off his tank top. Almost instantly, he joined Kohaku, grinning as they watched tiny fish swim around, the colorful marine life overtaking the tide pools.

Kohaku crouched down and dipped the end of his string into the water, waiting for one of the fish to bite.

"Dude, you don't need a pole to catch these guys," Ace told him, and pretended to roll up his sleeves. In one swift motion, he dunked his hands into the water, wrapping his hands around a fish. He lifted it out of the water to show Kohaku, but it flailed wildly, wriggling out his grasp and flipping back into the water.

Kohaku just laughed. "Yeah, right," the younger boy teased. He pointed at the sea cucumber resting on the bottom of the tide pool. "Those might be a little easier for you catch, Hiken no Ace."

"Hey, watch it," Ace said playfully, rolling his eyes. "You ever catch any fish to eat? I'm sure they could cook some back at Sora's bar."

"I catch some sometimes," Kohaku said, puffing out his cheeks.

"In other words, never," Ace clarified, smirking at Kohaku.

"Hey, I try to. I just feel kind of bad so I just let them go afterwards," Kohaku tried defending himself. "I have a bucket for my catches right there," he said, gesturing over to a white bucket by the palm tree where he kept his pole.

"You feel bad eating it? You live on an island. You must eat fish all the time."

"Yeah, but I don't catch those fish. I feel bad, okay?" Kohaku said, blushing a little as Ace laughed. The younger boy shoved Ace playfully. "It's not funny, shut up."

"Why don't you just catch one and bring it home? Like a pet?"

Kohaku raised an eyebrow. "I don't think Aneki would let me have a pet."

"But it's a fish."

"She doesn't care."

Ace laughed. "Come on, how about we catch a pet fish for you today? I'll vouch for you if Sora gets mad. Which would be ridiculous, since it's, you know, a fish."

Kohaku held his hands up in defeat. "Fine. We should catch two. They can be like brothers; I can take care of one and you can, too," Kohaku said, and then stopped himself for a moment. "I mean, for as long as you're here. I'll take care of it when you leave."

"How long does it take for the log to set, by the way?" Ace asked.

"I don't know," Kohaku answered. "The amount of time you guys stay differs each time you come. Sometimes it's two weeks and other times it's a few months. I don't know if it's about the log pose or anything. The Whitebeard crew just really likes it here."

"Oh," Ace said quietly. He found himself hoping that their stay wouldn't only be for two weeks.

Kohaku raised his eyebrows, and smirked like how he did in the bar. "Why? Want to stay for Aneki or something?"

"What? No, I don't even know her," Ace replied quickly. This again? Why was he so obvious? He needed to change the subject. Again. "Uh, we should probably get bait for the poles. It makes catching the fish easier."

This time, however, Kohaku didn't ignore him. "But you want to," he added, and laughed. "It's okay. A lot of guys like my sister."

"I, just, uh, okay," was all Ace could really say, if that even counted as saying anything. Whenever it came to talking about Sora, he just stumbled over his words. He probably shouldn't talk about her anymore. Before he could stop himself, he blurted. "She's really beautiful. Kinda weird," he added, and Kohaku laughed at that. "But beautiful."

"You're not the only one that thinks so," Kohaku shrugged again. "Sora's really pretty, and strong, and brave, and weird sometimes. But that's one of her quirks, I guess. And she takes care of everyone on the island, so a lot of people admire her. We wouldn't be who we are without her. We probably wouldn't even be alive."

"Was she ever a pirate?" Ace asked, also dipping his pole into the water. Most devil fruit users were marines or pirates. But based on her tattoo, Ace assumed that if she ever did venture the seas, she was the latter.

Kohaku nodded. "Yeah, she was on Whitebeard's crew."

Ace should have probably known this, but for some reason, it didn't hit him until now. Fishman Island was also an island owned and protected by Whitebeard, but the mermen didn't go around tattooing themselves with Whitebeard's Jolly Roger. Whitebeard had many sons, but Ace didn't know that Whitebeard had a daughter.

Ace seemed to express his surprise in his voice. "She was?"

"Yeah," Kohaku said, furrowing his brows together as though this was common knowledge. "She was the old second division commander."

"Wow," Ace said quietly, nodding to himself. The old second division commander. No wonder she was so strong; she had been a commandeered a whole division. Ace's division. It was probably why she got that look on her face when Ace mentioned adventures at sea. "Why is she here now?"

At this, Kohaku looked away and his voice softened. "Well, um, I don't know if it's really my place—"

Ace held up his hands and spoke quickly, sensing Kohaku's hesitation instantly. "No, it's okay. You don't have to tell me. I shouldn't be butting into her business."

Kohaku shook his head. "No, it's just…it's really not my place to say, you know?" The boy grinned again as though nothing happened. "Aneki can be a pretty private person, but you should just go ask her yourself. I'm sure that when she feels like she can trust you, she wouldn't mind telling you some stuff."

Ace laughed. "Maybe. I don't know, I feel like there's like, chemistry between us," he mused, and then shook his head, gazing down at the ten-year-old. "You must think I'm crazy. I've only known her for a day and a half."

"Nah, Aneki tends to have that effect on people," Kohaku said, not really seeming to mind that they were discussing his sister. "She's really cool about a lot of stuff. You know, fun to hang out with and makes fun of people and generally just tries to have a good time."

Laughing, Ace shook his head. "I hope you don't talk me up to her like this. It's kind of lame."

"That's totally not what I'm doing," Kohaku tried to defend himself, but Ace saw his expression faltering and laughed again. "What? Aneki just seems happier, that's all. I think it's because you remind her of—" Kohaku clamped his mouth shut, and Ace knew immediately that he was not supposed to pry. He pretended like it didn't happen.

"I think you have a bite," Ace said, changing the conversation back. Kohaku looked down and indeed, there was a fish wriggling the end of his line. The boy grinned and yanked the string out of the water, grinning at the rather large zebra fish. As a minnow, it was supposed to have been tiny, but it was the size of Kohaku's hand.

"Grab the bucket!" Kohaku said excitedly, and Ace burst up, hopping across the rocks to reach Kohaku's bucket. He stopped by the ocean to scoop up some water before carrying it back to the tide pools. Kohaku unhooked the fish and dropped it into the bucket, watching it swim around for a few moments. "How cool," he mused, smiling. "I hope Sora would be okay if we caught one for you, too."

"Yeah, dude, it's a fish. It'd make cool decoration for the bar too," Ace said, waving him off. He got up and ventured off to the tide pool nearest to the sea. He could feel the salty mist spray him as he crouched near the rock. He waved for Kohaku to come and pointed at a bright red fish in the pool when the younger boy arrived with the bucket. "I want that one."

Kohaku handed Ace his bamboo pole, but Ace shook his head and wriggled his fingers, staring at the fish. With lightning reflexes, Ace plucked the fish right out of the pool and practically threw it into the bucket. He lifted both of his arms in triumph. "Hell yeah!" he cried pumping his fist wildly. Kohaku just laughed, surprised that the fish didn't die from impact with the bucket.

"Wanna head back? There are other stuff we can do around the village, and we can start setting up a tank for the fish," Kohaku said, smiling. A wave crashed dangerously close to the rock Kohaku was standing on.

Ace nodded. It was probably better if they moved closer to the sand. "Yeah, okay, let's do that." The older man turned around to leave.

"Okay, well—" Kohaku started, but didn't get to finish, as a wave wiped the rocks, the sea practically dragging the younger boy back with it. Kohaku stumbled backwards as the wave receded. Had he not been holding the bucket, he probably would have regained his balance, but because his weight was off, the boy slipped.

"Shit!" Ace leapt forward, throwing the top half of his body off the edge of the rock, almost missing Kohaku's arm. Kohaku looked down at the sea roaring beneath him, and then back up at Ace with wide eyes.

"Ace," he called, his voice shaking. His other hand was holding onto the bucket so hard that his knuckles were white.

"I got you," Ace reassured him, and pulled the ten year old back up the rocks. He grabbed the bucket before helping Kohaku stand up again. "Come on," Ace said, still holding onto Kohaku's arm as he quickly led him off the rocks. Both boys collapsed onto the sand, letting out a sigh of relief.

"That was pretty scary," Kohaku said, laughing a little to lighten to mood. "Good thing you caught me, because I can't swim."

Ace raised both his eyebrows and nodded. "Funny, 'cause I can't either," he said, shoving Kohaku's face playfully. "Be careful."

"That wasn't even my fault!" Kohaku said, rolling his eyes. He sat up a little and noticed the sand stained with a light red. "Oops," he said, grinning.

Some of Kohaku's arm was skinned and cut from the rocks, and Ace rolled his eyes. His stomach was a little cut up also, but he didn't have an overprotective sister. "Damn, Sora is going to kill me, isn't she?"

Kohaku smiled sheepishly, seeming to agree. "You might want to put off talking to her more for a little." Ace wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"Totally killing my game, man," Ace teased.

The joke wasn't lost on Kohaku. The younger boy laughed loudly, over exaggerating. "Yeah, like you have any."

Ace shoved Kohaku's face again and both the boys stood up. Kohaku grabbed on to the bucket handle and they both headed back town to give the fish a tank. "We both almost died," Kohaku laughed as though that fact hadn't been a reality.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Yeah, for fish."

Kohaku raised his eyebrows and corrected Ace, "Pet fish."

Ace and Kohaku had spent the entire day out. They had bought a tank for the fish, dropped in some sand and scooped up water from the beach, dumping the fish in. Kohaku used some of his allowance to buy a nifty little homemade bubble-maker from a shop nearby so that the water would have oxygen. The tank was placed right behind the bar for everyone to see. Kohaku grinned every time he looked at it.

Once again, Ace noticed the overturned picture frame as he had set up the tank. But Kohaku had moved it before Ace could see what it was. He decided that was best for now; he shouldn't be meddling in someone else's business. But he couldn't help but let his eyes drift to it every now and then.

The younger boy had tired early – probably still a little traumatized from their near-death experience in the morning – so Ace had put him to bed a while ago. The Sky Pub was almost empty, and he was sitting alone at the bar, sipping from a cold beer.

"Damn, really, I can't believe that—" Ace turned at the sound of a woman's voice to see Sora and Marco enter the bar. Sora had tied her hair out of her face and her skin was a little dirty from the hike. She was carrying her boots in one hand and her bag in the other. She was still beautiful, regardless of her tired state, but the only thing that Ace noticed as Marco's arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, hey," she greeted, stopping midsentence and shuffling out from under Marco's arm. "I would have thought you crashed out already. Is Kohaku okay?"

"You were with Kohaku today?" Marco asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, he went to bed a while ago," Ace answered. "It was a lot of fun. I don't mind hanging out with him whenever you two go on hikes." He definitely didn't mean for that last part to sound bitter, but that's definitely how it sounded. He immediately regretted the words as soon as they left his lips.

But, thankfully, Marco didn't take it that way. "That's neat. Kohaku's actually a lot more shy than it seems. It's cool that you two have bonded," he said. Ace didn't believe it. Kohaku, who had been teasing Ace all day about not having any game, was shy? Definitely not. Marco kissed Sora's temple and Ace felt that sticky bubble blowing up in his chest again. "Gonna shower real quick and head to sleep. I had fun today, Sora. Let's do it again before I leave."

"I'll try to find time," she said, but Marco was already heading towards the stairs.

He waved slightly. "You better make time," he replied playfully, and his footsteps already faded away. Shortly after, Sora and Ace heard the shower come on.

Within the time that Sora and Marco had come back, the bar had emptied out, leaving a few tables with empty mugs and plates behind. Ace raised his eyebrows and held out his mug of beer. "Wanna have a drink with me?"

She smiled tiredly and shook her head as she moved towards the dirty dishes to clear the tables. "Nah, maybe next time, studly. I'm pretty tired from the hike."

"But you have energy to clean the dishes," Ace noticed, Sora piling the mugs and plates behind the bar.

"I can't just leave them there." She turned and noticed the giant fish tank. She furrowed her eyebrows together. "What is this?"

"Fish tank. Kohaku and I went to go catch fish today," Ace said, smiling.

But, like Ace had expected, Sora wasn't mad at all. She just laughed. "That's neat. Now he has something to keep him busy. Sounds like you guys had fun."

"Yeah," Ace said, grinning. He finished off his beer and Sora swept the mug off the table to wash. "He's a really nice kid."

Sora chuckled a little, facing her back to Ace to start washing the dishes near the sink next to the fish tank. "Yeah, he is. I'm really glad that you guys had fun today."

"Yeah, so what'd you do today?"

"I told you already. I went hiking with Marco."

"Is that all?"

Sora turned around, leaning against the sink and raised her eyebrows. "No, we rode a dragon deep into the mountain and made passionate love atop a sycamore tree as white doves flew all around us and there was a light rain and a double rainbow," she replied sarcastically. "Yes, we only hiked, you nosy parker."

Ace laughed a little, holding his hands up. "I don't know, I was just asking. Kohaku mentioned some stuff about you and Marco," Ace said, leaving out the part where Kohaku confirmed that Sora did not have feelings for the older man. He just wanted to see Sora's reaction.

"What did Kohaku say about me and Marco?" she challenged, turning back around to finish the dishes.

Ace shrugged. "I don't know. That's just between me and him. Otherwise, our trust would be broken forever."

"Oh, shut up, you line stealer," Sora laughed. "And for your information, Marco and I are just very good friends."

"Hmm," Ace hummed, shrugging, pretending that he was skeptical. He was actually quite satisfied with her reaction. No panicking, and very honest; Kohaku was right after all.

"What, you don't believe me?" she asked, finishing the dishes and wiping her hands on a nearby towel. She turned around, crossing her arms over her chest.

Ace shook his head and shrugged at the same time. "I don't know, I mean, hiking can be a pretty intimate activity. You don't just go alone with someone to go hiking unless you're doing the do."

"Doing the—oh, fine, you and I can go on a hike and I'll show you what exactly friends do on this so-called 'intimate' activity," Sora said, rolling her eyes.

"Great," Ace responded, getting exactly what he wanted. He had definitely played his cards right on this one. "So, I get to put my arm around you and kiss you on the head, too, right?"

Sora stepped out from behind the bar and playfully smacked Ace on the arm. "Oh, stop. We can go on a hike tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I mean, I didn't even know that we were even friends yet," Ace said, furrowing his brows together in feigned confusion. "I mean, we do room together, but total, I've only known you for like, two days. I think we should have a pre-hike activity to establish the fact that we are just friends first, before you show me what 'friends' really do."

Sora narrowed her eyes, but her lips were curled into a little smile. "Fine." Ace was surprised at how easy this was, but he definitely wasn't going to complain. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'll get back to you on that," Ace said, truly needing a little bit of time to think about what exactly he wanted to do. He had won himself two chances, if he messed up either one, his chances of wooing Sora would drop substantially. Sure, it was easy to talk her into things, but if she decided that she didn't like his company, then Ace had a feeling it'd be a lot more difficult. Women never told men straight up that they don't like them, they'll just make up excuses not to do something, and Ace absolutely did not want to be that man.

"Okay, well, then you let me know, studly," Sora said, turning her back to him and waving as she headed upstairs. "Close up, okay? I'm gonna go take a shower."

"But Marco's in the shower," Ace reminded her.

The turned her head and winked playfully. "Got a problem?" she teased, and at that moment, the water went out, signaling that Marco had finished taking a bath. Ace rolled his eyes at her, and Sora just giggled. "I was kidding," she told him.

"Yeah, yeah, see you upstairs," he told her, shooing her away.

Sora's tinkling laughter rang through his ears as she disappeared up the stairs.

Ace forgotten again that he should have probably told Sora that he was also going to be heading upstairs. But he just locked the door and flicked off the lights like how he had the night before; Sora hadn't mentioned anything about it so he assumed that it was okay. He pushed open the door to the room he shared with her, feeling the cold wind through the balcony window. He raised his body temperature, warming the room slightly, before hopping into bed.

Kohaku wasn't there anymore, and he vaguely remembered someone coming to pick him up to drag the sleepy boy out of Sora's room. Someone would have said something if that was odd, so Ace just waved to the young boy as he left.

He didn't even know how long he had been staring at the ceiling until the door opened again, Sora coming in with her hair damp and dressed in a baggy shirt and pajama pants. She was wearing her glasses again, and tossed her old clothes into a basket near her bed.

"Yo," she greeted, smiling at Ace as she passed, and lay on her bed. She immediately took her glasses off and flicked off the lights. She spoke into the darkness. "So, you and Kohaku really bonded today, huh?"

Ace turned his head to see that Sora was staring at the ceiling, too. "Yeah. He reminds me a lot of my little brother."

Sora chuckled. "Kohaku can be silly sometimes. I'm glad he likes you." She turned her head to look at Ace and shot him a smirk. "As his sister, I guess that means I'm supposed to like you, too, huh?"

"That'd be cool," Ace said, smiling back at her.

She laughed. "Really, though. Thank you, Ace."

The way she said his name, like it was something sacred, something secret, rolling off her tongue like a whisper. It sent shivers down his spine. "Yeah, it was really no problem."

Ace heard the sound of her shuffling the blanket around, turning over. She let out a quiet yawn. "I'm pretty beat. See you tomorrow. Maybe a dream will come to you about what you want your pre-hike activity to be."

Ace smiled, and closed his eyes. "Maybe," he said into the night. "Good night, Sora."