Marco always woke up early.
Whenever just a leak of sunlight entered the room, he was up and ready to go. Light gave him energy, and reminded him that there were things that needed to be done. But today, he allowed himself to sleep in a little – rest was needed. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, lifting his arms to stretch out the morning tire. He headed to the bathroom to wash up, taking a deep breath as he stared in the mirror.
What was he even doing? He had come here again, so ecstatic to see Sora – the woman he would die for – and yet at the back of his mind, he knew that she could never see him that way. What was he doing, waiting around, hoping that one day, she'd wake up and realize that he was what she wanted?
He scoffed to himself, shaking his head as he wiped his hands. As though that happened often. He left the bathroom and pulled on a black shirt, not bothering to button it up as he went downstairs.
The bar was busier than normal, full of chatter and laughter as people came in for breakfast. He always wondered what a bar was doing serving breakfast, but never asked Sora about it; she seemed to run a good place, as everyone here was always happy and they had a record of zero bar fights.
"Oy, where's Sora?" Marco heard someone ask. He turned to see Eiichi wiping his forehead. He and two other people seemed to be taking care of the bar, but the woman in question was nowhere in sight.
"I don't know," Marco said, shrugging and shaking his head.
"She hasn't come down yet; I thought she went out with you," Eiichi said, and Marco shook his head. This was odd. "Sora normally tells me when she's going out so I can call someone to come in, but I don't know where she is."
"I just got up," Marco said, shaking his head. He gestured upstairs. "Want me to check her room?"
Eiichi scoffed and waved Marco off. "Sora wouldn't be sleeping. It's like, eleven thirty. She probably went out."
"I'll just go check. If not, then I'll go out and look for her," Marco offered, heading back up the stairs. He sighed, shaking his head. Where could she have possibly gone? If Eiichi didn't see her leave, then where else could she be? She wasn't the kind of person to jump out of her window to escape from working at her own bar.
Marco knocked three times loudly and pushed open the door. The breath caught in his chest on the sight he saw – Sora was still in bed. Not only was she still in bed, but she was in bed with Ace. The dark haired man had his arm wrapped around her, her knee in between his as a leg rest and only his feet under the blankets that Sora was wrapped in. The woman's slender arm was draped over Ace's waist and she seemed to still be sound asleep, breathing into Ace's chest.
"Sora," Marco said, trying speak loudly without getting angry. How did this even happen? What did they do last night? He vaguely remembered hearing Thatch pound on the wall last night. He cleared his throat. "Sora."
She groaned. "What?" she said into Ace's chest.
Marco felt his chest tighten, trying his best not to yell. "Sora, it's time to get up."
"What? No, stop, it's too early," she said, lifting her hand to wave Marco off.
"It's eleven thirty."
Sora exploded out of bed, throwing the blanket off her. Her hair was tangled but her eyes were no longer tainted with sleep. She stared at Marco in disbelief. "What? It's eleven thirty?"
Ace groaned and lifted himself out of bed. He grabbed Sora's wrist and plopped down into the mattress again. "Sleep," he told her, voice still scratchy.
Sora pulled her hand away and swung her legs over bed, running a hand through her hair, trying to comb it as she stepped into a pair of slippers. "Oh, my God, how is it eleven thirty?" she asked Marco frantically, flipping her hair and pulling it all into a messy bun.
Marco shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know. How are you still asleep at eleven thirty?"
"I don't know. I just didn't wake up," Sora said, exhaling deeply. She turned to Marco. "Is Eiichi pissed?"
Marco shook his head, chuckling. "Just worried."
Ace rolled to where Sora was on the edge of bed, wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sleep."
"I have to work," Sora told him, her voice becoming slightly gentler. She patted Ace on the head, standing up and pulling out of his grasp. She picked up some clothes out of her dresser. "Okay, I'm going to go change and stuff so tell Eiichi I'll be down in a bit," Sora said to Marco, who nodded and moved aside to let her pass to go to the bathroom.
Ace groaned and rolled over so that his back was facing the sun. "What did you do last night?" Marco asked quietly when the bathroom door had closed.
Ace stretched his arms and opened his eyes slightly to look at Marco. He shook his head as he inhaled sharply, still sleepy. "Nothing."
"Don't lie to me."
Ace propped himself up now, raising an eyebrow. "Why would I lie?"
Marco smiled, nodding. He could tell in Ace's voice that the man was being honest. Plus, knowing Sora, there was no way anything could have happened. Why was Marco even worried in the first place? He smiled. "Just making sure."
Ace fell back into bed, yawning and closing his eyes again. "I'll be down in a bit. Just let me roll around for a little longer," he told Marco, who just laughed and closed the door behind him.
"Do I look like shit?" Marco heard Sora ask as she came out of the bathroom. She was dressed in a slightly wrinkled cropped shirt that exposed her midriff and her signature grey shorts, boots covering her calves.
Marco shook his head. "You're always beautiful," he told her.
Sora laughed, slapping his shoulder playfully. "Oh, stop," she glanced around, her eyes landing on the closed door. "Where's Ace?"
"Gonna sleep for a little longer."
Sora scoffed, rolling her eyes as she made a move for the stairs. "I should tell Eiichi it's Ace's fault I'm late. He's so warm, it was too comfortable to get up, I guess."
Marco raised an eyebrow. "Warm?"
"Oh, like, body temperature," Sora clarified. "I was cold last night, so he just came to lie down and stuff," she shrugged it off like it didn't matter, and so Marco believed that it didn't. Sora wasn't the type of woman to be swayed by the antics of men of any man besides—
"You're late," Eiichi pretended to scold upon seeing Sora come down the stairs. He paused and then squinted his eyes. "Wait, so you were sleeping?"
Sora grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."
Eiichi sighed. "No worries, boss," he said, winking at her. "Thatch told me he had to pound on the wall last night 'cause you and Ace were making noise. What were you guys doing?"
Marco swallowed a lump in his throat. Sora's jaw dropped playfully and she punched her friend. "Nothing!"
Eiichi, waved her off. "It's okay, you don't have to lie. He's a little young for you, though, don't you think?"
Sora hit him again. "Oh, stop. He's a, ah, nice kid, that's all."
Eiichi shrugged, raising his eyebrows as though he didn't believe her. He tossed an apron at her and she tied it around her waist, not saying another word about Ace. Marco wasn't sure if he had even wanted to hear more or not.
"Aneki," Kohaku greeted from a barstool.
"Oh, shit, happy birthday, little man," Sora said, ruffling the boy's hair. "You're like, what, six now?"
Kohaku made a face at her. "Eleven."
"Oh, yeah, eight," Sora teased, and Kohaku rolled his eyes. "Party tonight, am I right?"
Kohaku's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Sora shrugged. "Yeah, you're like nine years old now, nine year olds can have parties."
"Eleven!"
"Right, four."
"Aneki!"
Sora laughed, ruffling Kohaku's hair again. "Alright, alright. Go tell your friends that we'll have something at the bar tonight. And because you're seven now, you can have one cup of sake and that's it," she said, holding up one finger and poking Kohaku's forehead, and nose, and chin, and cheek, as though making a point.
Eiichi shook his head, laughing. "You'd be a terrible mother."
Sora grinned. "Yeah, yeah, okay, run along, kiddo," Sora said, shooing Kohaku.
"I can go out?" Kohaku asked, raising an eyebrow as though thinking this was a trick. Even Eiichi and Marco seemed a little surprised; Sora was quite protective over Kohaku and normally didn't let him leave the bar without supervision.
"Yeah, you're eleven, right? You can go out by yourself. Don't get in trouble or I'll demote you to a two year old," Sora told him with a wink, watching as his face lit up again, a huge grin spreading across his face.
"Thanks, Aneki!" Kohaku said, hopping off the barstool.
"I'll get your gift today," Sora called after him.
Kohaku made an over exaggerated pouty face. "You still never got anything yet?"
"I was busy yesterday," she responded, waving him off.
"With Ace?" Kohaku fired back, giggling.
Sora opened her mouth to say something, but Kohaku raced out of the place like his life depended on it his laughter fading away as he ran. Sora sighed and rolled her eyes as Eiichi chuckled. "See? I'm not the only one that's been noticing you with Ace."
"He's just a friend," Sora insisted, furrowing her brows at Eiichi.
"Whatever you say," he said airily, shrugging. "It's okay, you know. It's nice to see you having fun hanging out with someone other than yourself."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.
Eiichi smiled at her gently. "Just, ah, I like that you seem happier," he said, and Sora seemed a little surprised by his answer, as Marco saw her expression falter for a brief moment. "If he makes you happy, Sora, you should just be with him more. Everyone likes seeing you happy."
"We're friends," Sora said again, moving past Eiichi to grab food the kitchen pushed out, successfully ending the conversation. Marco sat at the bar, not really sure what to think.
"Get you anything?" Eiichi asked, seeming to know that Marco was in a daze.
"Yeah, ah, just something to eat. Anything's fine," Marco told him.
It was the age difference. They were so far apart in age that when she had first come onto the ship, she had been a kid, but she had noticed Marco right away. Now that she had grown into a beautiful woman, Marco was the one that noticed her. But it had been too late..
When she had told him a few years ago about how she had a crush on him when she was younger, Marco couldn't help but be weighed down with heavy disappointment. It was too late now that the crush was over; if Marco did anything out of the ordinary, it would scare her away and that was the last thing he wanted. Because she had come clean and they had laughed about it, it was the same as placing Marco in the friend zone forever.
But if that's what made her happy for now, then Marco would oblige. He would be patient. Maybe one day, she would see.
Or, maybe not.
"Oy, small boobs," called a voice from the base of the stairs. Sora turned from the bar to see Ace standing there in a green cotton shirt and wrinkled black shorts.
"What up, studly?" she asked back, sliding over a drink to someone at the counter. She turned around to grab some food and slipped past Ace to deliver it to a table. She moved past him again to grab another platter. Ace stuck is arm out, blocking her.
"What're you doing?" he asked, grinning.
"Working," Sora told him, placing a hand on his chest as she moved by him again to drop off breakfast at a customer's table.
"Come out with me today. I still haven't been shown around," he said, still smiling.
"I'm working," Sora laughed, shaking her head. "You can't keep stealing me from work, Ace."
"I'm not stealing you if deep down inside, you want to come," he replied.
"No dice."
Ace plopped down in the barstool next to Marco, the two shaking hands in greeting. Ace leaned his elbow on the table, resting his chin in his hand. "Oy, small boobs," he called again.
"What?" Sora asked, pretending to be annoyed as she turned to Ace with her hand on her hip.
"How many times have I called you 'small boobs' and you responded?" Ace teased, causing Sora to roll her eyes.
"Busy right now, studly. I'll play with you later," Sora told him, waving him off.
"Ah, I hope you do," he teased, receiving a look from Sora. "Oh, come on, you set that one up."
Sora just ignored him, walking around her bar with a pitcher and refilling glasses, taking orders.
"Need help?" Ace asked when Sora returned to the counter.
She scoffed. "Don't offer if you're not serious."
Ace held out his hands. "Come on, I'm totally serious. I can help."
"Have you ever even worked a day in your life?" Sora asked, laughing as though Ace were telling a bad joke.
Ace pretended to be insulted. "Yeah, I work all the time. I clean and stuff on the ship, I run my division, all that stuff," Ace said, like this was something to boast about.
Sora snorted, holding back a laugh. "Yeah, I did that, too, studly, but you've never worked in a bar. Thanks for the offer but I don't think you can do it."
Marco saw the fire in Ace's eyes ignite. Marco chuckled to himself; both second division commanders had a problem with never standing down when given a challenge, no matter how mundane. Ace got off the barstool with a purpose, marching behind the bar and pulling an apron off a hook.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow as Ace folded the apron over so that it would only cover his waist, and then tying it behind him.
"Helping," Ace stated as though this were already obvious.
"It's not as easy as it looks," Sora warned, but didn't make a move to stop him.
"Do your worst, woman!" Ace told her, raising both fists in the air. Sora just laughed.
"Alright, then. I can help for now, but I have to leave a little later to buy something for Kohaku's birthday," she informed him, handing him a few cups to fill with water.
"It's his birthday?"
Sora nodded. "He's eleven. I already know what I wanted to get him, but I probably won't give it to him until later. I'm throwing him a party tonight, so that'll be his present for now."
"I'll go with you," Ace offered, spilling water all over the counter as he tried to pour. Sora sighed and did it for him as the man grinned sheepishly.
"You don't need to buy Kohaku anything," Sora said, waving him off.
"But I want to," insisted Ace. "It'd be cool, right? He's a nice kid."
Sora just shrugged. "Whatever, it's your money," she said like she didn't care, but Marco could see the small smile curving her lips. She was actually happy that Ace was getting a birthday gift for Kohaku, being kind to someone that meant a lot to her.
"Ah, you're working," Eiichi noticed. It wasn't a question, but rather an observation. He raised one eyebrow at Ace, and then raised the other at Sora, trying his best not to smile.
"He wanted to help," Sora tried to explain, sounding as though she were defending herself, but Eiichi just shrugged.
Ace pounded his fist into his hand. "Alright, what's first?" he asked Eiichi.
"He spilled water," Sora said as she moved past Eiichi to deliver an order, gesturing to the puddle of water near Marco. Ace scratched his head, still grinning like a kid.
Eiichi raised his eyebrows, inhaling as he scratched his head, trying to think of somewhere to put Ace. "Uh, okay, well, you can carry food to the tables?"
"Oy, don't let him do that, he'll drop the food," Sora said as she passed by again, picking up another tray to bring food to more customers.
"Okay, then, um, maybe clean tables," Eiichi suggested.
"Kaoru and Shinji are already bussers today," said Sora as she passed by again, moving around the bar. She was holding a giant bowl of sake, which could only be for the rather giant captain sitting in his usual giant booth.
Eiichi chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know, man. What do you want to do?"
"I don't know. Anything? I can, uh, pour beer from the tap and sweep and stuff?" Ace tried, shrugging. He heard Marco chuckle teasingly and Ace made a face at him.
"Oy, useless, take off that apron before Sora gets mad. She loves her bar," Marco joked, and Ace just laughed, shaking his head.
"I'm not even useless," he tried to argue, as he dodged out of Sora's way, the woman darting back into the kitchen to grab more food.
"How about this, studly," Sora called, poking her head out from the kitchen. She motioned for Ace to move closer. "You can help me deliver food and in an hour or two we'll go out and get something for Kohaku and when we come back you can help me set up for his party," she said, smiling. Then, she spoke quietly so that only Ace could hear her over the noise, and added with a smirk, "Or if that's too much for you, then I can just ask Marco to help me."
"It's not," Ace told her as a matter of fact, making a face at her and ruffling her hair. "You know people are going to start talking if you keep up with those Marco jokes."
"I already told you I don't care," Sora said with a shrug. "Marco already knows about my little crush and we're totally friends and any rumors started will just be ignored. Right, Marco?" she called behind Ace, catching the blonde's attention at the table.
"Hmm? Whatever you say," Marco said, waving her off although he obviously did not even hear what she had said. Ace rolled his eyes.
"See?" Sora said with a shrug, pulling out a plate of rice, tamagoyaki, broiled salmon, and a bowl of miso soup. She placed them down in front of Marco. "Late breakfast," she said, smiling at him.
"Thanks." Marco snapped his chopsticks and started eating right away – anything to keep his mind from the humming feeling of jealousy gnawing away at his stomach.
Sora returned to Ace, who raised both his eyebrows at her. He asked quietly, "How can you not even tell that he totally wants you to make his miso soup in the morning?"
Sora slapped Ace playfully. "That's not even true. How many times do I need to tell you that we're best friends? Like, siblings almost, one of which – me – who has had really weird, confused incestual feelings for a very short time as a young child, but now those feelings are no more. Poof," she said, making the motion with her hand. "Gone with the wind." She swept her hands slowly, wiggling her fingers to emphasize the wind part.
Ace just shook his head, his hair flopping with the movement. "Whatever you say, small boobs. Don't freak out if there's some sudden confession and come back running to daddy 'cause daddy's just gonna tell you that I told you so and give you a spanking for not listening."
Sora scoffed at Ace's entire prediction. "Spanking? Please. I'm fairly certain that—"
"Anything you want to do to me regarding spanking me is going to come around to bite you in the ass," Ace interrupted with a joking warning, making Sora just laugh. A ceramic plate with more food was slid over to Sora.
"Gonna help me?" she asked, turning to Ace.
"Yeah," he told her, reaching for the plate.
"Oh, watch out, it's hot—" Sora started, but Ace lifted it off the counter with no problem.
He furrowed his brows. "Flame body," he reminded her.
"Oh, lucky you. They're kinda hot for me."
Ace just smiled. "Where's this supposed to go?"
Sora gestured to Whitebeard's Table. "That's Izou's; he's on Oyaji's table. Don't drop it."
"Gotcha." Ace slid over to the table where Izou was sitting, gripping the plate tightly between his fingers to avoid dropping it.
Izou chuckled upon seeing Ace. "Well, good afternoon," he greeted. "You know we don't have to work while we're here. Sora feeds division commanders for free. We just leave her giant tips."
"Yeah, but I'm just helping," Ace said proudly, placing Izou's food down on the table. "It's kind of busy and she'll be swamped."
"That's sweet of you," Izou commented, lifting a piece of egg to his colored lips. "I heard you both went to the waterfall yesterday."
"Yeah, it was fun," Ace said with a grin, remembering yesterday and pretending as though the last part with that grave hadn't happened. The broken expression on Sora's face – he never wanted to see it again, even in memories.
Izou chewed his food delicately, thinking of the right words. "She doesn't take just anyone there, you know," he said, his inflection towards the end of his sentence implying an underlying meaning.
"I, ah, kind of went off the trail and took her there," Ace corrected, scratching his head and choosing to ignore Izou's tone.
Izou was silent for a bit, placing more food in his mouth and chewing slowly. "Remember, that although it may not seem like it, Sora is a very private person. She wouldn't have let you deviate from the trail if a part of her didn't trust you. Trust me, Portgas D. Ace, when I advise you to just tread carefully around what you might have seen there."
Ace knew at that moment that Izou was referring to the grave. But Ace just shrugged and shook his head, pretending like he hadn't seen anything. "We just swam, that's all."
"Oy, you gonna chitchat or come work?" Sora called from the counter, gesturing to the plate of food pushed out from the kitchen. Ace had never been more grateful for a conversation to end.
"See you," Ace told Izou, who just waved, wiping his mouth as Ace returned to the bar. He noticed that Sora had left the fish tank there, both fishes that he and Kohaku had caught at the tide pools swimming around enthusiastically. "How awesome are these fish?" he asked Sora, grinning.
The woman laughed. "Only you would be amused by fish. Come on, studly, we have a bar to feed," Sora said, filling a few glasses at the bar with more water.
That was when Ace remembered the picture frame. He hadn't turned it up when he had placed the fish tank, but now he was back here again and it seemed to be pulling his hand in with some magnetic force. Before he knew it, the silver frame was cold between his fingers, and he was staring through a layer of glass at an old photograph.
It was Sora. Her hair wasn't as long as it was now, indicating that this had been some time back, probably closer to around the time she had been a pirate aboard the Moby Dick, as her hair was straight and shoulder length. Kohaku was there, too, a younger version of the kid, both of them grinning.
There was a face that Ace didn't recognize, though, a man with stark white-blonde hair that was kept in a neat ponytail over his right shoulder, the top of his head covered by a Marines cap, and Ace could see that the man was dressed in the white Marines coat. He was smiling into the camera too, freckles dotting his cheeks. Ace followed the lines of his body, seeing that the man's arm was wrapped around Sora and she was leaned into him, Kohaku in between the two of them.
"Who's this?" Ace blurted when Sora came back.
Sora looked down and her smile disappeared instantly, that same broken look appearing on her face for a brief moment. Only this time, it was erased by another smile. She gently took the frame from Ace and placed it back down on the counter, obviously not wanting to look at the picture for any longer. "That's, ah, just, um – his name was Kenjiro."
Ace remembered the characters on the grave reading the same thing. "This is where I knew him from," he said, nodding as the memory came back. He knew that the name had been familiar – Ace had just needed to see the face that went with it. "Takamune Kenjiro – 'Meitou of the Marines.'"
A meitou was a rare type of katana, superior to regular katana in every way. Takamune Kenjiro was well known by Marines and pirates alike for his skill in the art of the sword.
Sora nodded and turned so that her face was conveniently hidden as she placed her bare hands on another plate. "Yep."
"He was pretty neat, I mean, the best swordsman in the Marines besides Mihawk himself," Ace continued, eyes flicking back to the picture.
Again, Sora didn't look at him, staring at the food on the plate as though trying to make it explode with her mind as she fought to stay calm. "Mhm."
Ace didn't notice this, though, as his eyes were still on the picture, so he kept going. "But what's a pirate doing hanging with a Marine—"
"Stop," Sora said sharply, and Ace felt a burst of energy as her haki released and the whole bar was instantly silenced. Ace could see her fingers on the plate trembling – unsure if they were trying too hard to hold onto the plate, or simply gripping them so hard that her hands shook. She spoke quietly, her voice faltering. "Don't ask me about that person. I can't answer."
Ace just nodded, and Sora turned on her heel and walked away to deliver the tray. Chatter in the bar resumed carefully, cautiously, all customers keeping one eye on the bar as though trying to gauge whether or not it was okay to speak again. But commotion resumed as normal, people acting as though that hadn't just happened.
The dark haired man just stood there, dumbfounded. Damn, every time they did something together, he always seemed to manage to unnecessarily provoke her with something he did or said. He was running out of chances; he didn't want Sora to stop hanging out with him because he unfortunately seemed to talk about touchy subjects for her.
Marco had just watched the whole thing silently, feeling in his chest the hollow pang that came with seeing that familiar look on Sora's face. Admittedly, it wasn't as prevalent as it had been when the Whitebeard Pirates came to Arashi Island within the past few years, but it still shattered Marco's heart every time.
For Ace to cause some of those feelings of Sora's to resurface and for him to still be standing? Well, that was a feat. No one talked about Takamune Kenjiro in front of Sora. Absolutely no one.
It wasn't because they were afraid of her reactions; it was out of respect – respect for the woman who had protected them, given up her dream for them. No one also ever wanted to see Sora upset and everyone knew that Takamune Kenjiro was the most sensitive subject anyone could ever bring up with her.
Except Ace, of course. Marco could understand his surprise, being a newcomer and not knowing about delicate subjects with Sora. A simple question – even a lighthearted one – shouldn't have been met with such a retort. But this was different. It was Kenjiro.
Sora returned again, smiling as though nothing had happened. Even if Sora was smiling, Marco knew it wasn't real; he couldn't see the corners of it reach her eyes, he didn't notice the dimples. Just that brief mention of Kenjiro's name and title had set her into such a downward spiral. She was still struggling, four years later.
Marco sat at the bar, chatting with Sora occasionally as she passed. He missed her so much while on the Moby Dick, he lost track of time. When he could see her, that was when he lived. But that had never been enough – she didn't see him that way anymore, so all he could do was silently appreciate her presence.
Pretending like nothing happened, Sora happily tended to Ace, teaching him about things to do in the bar – pouring beer from the tap, how to refill water without turning the table into a puddle, clearing tables and delivering food more efficiently – and Marco couldn't help but be a little envious. Ace, who had never met Sora before a little over a week ago was receiving so much of her attention.
But then again, Marco understood. He could tell that in Ace, Sora saw the reflection of Kenjiro. Marco wouldn't dare mention it, though, no matter how true it might have been. Sora was uncomfortable talking about anything regarding Takamune Kenjiro, ever. The last thing Marco ever wanted to do was cause that girl pain. He loved her too much.
However, in this case, love wasn't enough. To confess meant being selfish, and so Marco would just stay silent. He fought with himself every time the Moby Dick docked on Arashi Island shores – over whether or not he should just risk everything. But he couldn't. No, not after Sora had suffered so completely, not after she had been consumed in heartache. She was smiling now. That was what Marco wanted – for her to be happy.
It was hard, that's all. Hard to see her happy with another man, even though she technically wasn't with Ace. Marco could see her face light up when they spoke, her laughter tinkling when he said something funny, her eyes flicking back to him when she left the bar to make sure he was doing alright – Marco saw all of it. He couldn't believe he had to go through this again.
"Uh, Marco?" a voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Sora in front of him, her apron tossed aside. "You alright, hot stuff?"
Marco nodded, smiling at her despite himself. "Yeah, sorry, just fazing out."
"Oh, okay, well, Ace and I are going to go pick something up for Kohaku for his birthday. Could you make sure Eiichi doesn't go bonkers without me?"
"Oy," Eiichi called, hearing her. Sora grinned, waving. "Bye, thanks for leaving me again, oh mighty owner of the bar she never works at," he teased, ruffling her hair.
"This is for Kohaku," Sora said, rolling her eyes.
Eiichi scoffed. "Yeah, I bought him a gift already when I was off. I'm responsible."
Sora stuck her tongue out. "We'll be back soon."
"No, no, take your time, I like taking care of your bar by myself," Eiichi continued, waving her off.
"Bye," Sora laughed, walking out from behind the bar. She placed a hand on Marco's shoulder gently. "You sure you're okay? Did you want to come or something? Get some fresh air? I can just ask Izou to sit with Eiichi."
Marco waved her off, chuckling. "Nah, it's alright, go have fun shopping. I already got something for Kohaku yesterday."
"Damn," Sora sighed, realizing that she probably should have done this earlier. She patted her pockets, making sure she had money, and then together with Ace, headed out into the city.
"Hey, uh, I have a question," Ace said when the bar was behind them.
"What?"
"Does Eiichi like you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sora snorted. "What did you say?"
"Yeah, I mean he was looking at you all day and teasing you and stuff, I don't know, I can't even tell anymore, there are so many guys going ga-ga over you."
Sora burst out laughing, shoving Ace. "Are you kidding me? Eiichi is gay!"
Ace hadn't expected that one. He furrowed his brows. "What?"
"Yeah! I mean, he's a couple years older than me and everything, but I grew up with him nonetheless; I know these things. Eiichi is five thousand percent gay," Sora said, smiling as she nodded. "Him and Michio have a thing," she added, making a swirly motion with her finger as though conjoining the two men.
"What?" Ace said, shaking his head. "Michio had a wife, and he has kids! And the guy's like, ten years older than Eiichi!"
"Yeah, so? People change when they find someone that is exactly what they need, you know?" Sora said, shrugging. "And Eiichi was that person for Michio. Granted that Michio still likes to make jokes about watching me become a lesbian—"
"Can I watch, too?" Ace interrupted.
Sora laughed and rolled her eyes. "—Eiichi goes over his place after work and—"
Ace put his hands over his ears as tightly as he could. "Nope, stop it, shut up, I don't need to hear that!" he said extremely loudly, talking over her.
Sora pulled down his arm, giggling. "Oh, my God, you're such a little kid. I was gonna say that Eiichi helps take care of Michio's sons. They're really nice together, you know." She smirked up at Ace. "My golly, you are such a jealous person I'm not sure if I want to laugh at you or cry for you."
Ace's jaw dropped playfully. "I was not jealous."
"Don't even! You just thought that my super gay childhood friend had a thing for me because he was teasing me. We're not five anymore, Ace. Plus I'm pretty sure I'm not his type."
Ace shrugged. "I don't know, your boobs are pretty nonexistent, you could pass for a guy," he teased, receiving a slap on the arm from Sora. "Mm, so what're you gonna get for Kohaku?"
"Oh, I already know what I'm getting him," Sora said, waving him off. "I've been thinking about it for weeks, but I'm not going to give it to him until later when the time is right. I just want to get it now."
Ace was confused, but didn't say anything. "Okay, what should I get him?"
"I don't know, you're the one that wanted to come and buy something for him."
"Does he go to the beach?"
"Don't steal my gift idea."
Ace shoved her teasingly. "I don't even know what you're getting him."
"Don't steal my gift idea," Sora said, again, her eyebrows falling as she made a face. "I was thinking about it forever. Get your own idea."
Ace laughed, covering her face with his palm. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was thinking of getting him like, a board or something to go surfing. He seems like the surfing type—"
Sora slapped his shoulder, hard. Ace rubbed the spot she hit, seeing a red mark where her had had struck him. "What the hell was that for?"
"That's my idea!"
"Or you just copied my idea. I said it first, so technically, it has been stated that it was my idea."
Sora jabbed a finger at him. "Oh, my God, if you steal my idea, Portgas D. Ace, I will end you."
"You stole my idea, de Belleville Sora," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at her. Sora pressed her palm into his cheek and pushed him away, walking ahead of him.
"We can split for it," Ace suggested, jogging to catch up with her. "So we get him like, a nice body board. Wait, not just a nice body board, but like a really nice one."
Sora narrowed her eyes, humming as she stared at Ace through slits in her face. "Ugh, okay, fine. But if he asks, then it was my idea."
Ace made a face. "No, you don't get to take credit for my awesome idea."
"It was mine first!" Sora insisted.
"I will bitch slap you," Ace warned her, lifting his hand like he was actually going to hit her, causing Sora to burst out into little giggles. "We split cash for it, so we'll split for it idea-wise. Okay? Fifty-fifty."
"Whatever," Sora shrugged, waving Ace off as they entered a board shop.
"Oy, Sora," greeted the shop owner, waving at the woman. He was a young man with long black hair tied neatly behind his neck. He was wearing a slim fitting white shirt that showed off his tan, lean muscles and a pair of swim trunks.
"Hey, Caleb," she said, smiling.
The young grinned. "Nice to see you back. Decided to get Kohaku that board?"
She nodded. "Yeah, we're gonna get a nicer one, though."
Caleb raised both eyebrows in inquiry. "'We'?" he asked, smirking.
Sora ignored his tone, pointing a thumb back at Ace nonchalantly. "Oh, yeah, this is the second rate division commander of Oyaji's crew."
"Hey, I'm not second rate," Ace said, frowning at the woman as she walked off to examine body boards. He held out his hand to Caleb, shaking the owner's hand firmly. "Portgas D. Ace. Nice to meet you."
"Kemuri Caleb. Likewise," the other man said, smiling. He crossed his arms over his chest, smirking at Sora. "I've heard about you, and I agree; it really is nice to see our Sora out with a—"
"This one," Sora cried from across the store at an unnecessary volume, pointing at a board on the wall.
Caleb chuckled, shaking his head as he made his way over to her. He looked up at the board. It was decorated with puffy white clouds and a sky blue background. "Epoxy slip bottom, polypropylene core, custom design cut by me, of course – it's one of our best," he told her.
"Yeah, that one," Sora said, nodding.
"I like this one better," Ace said, pointing at the board mounted two places over from the one Sora was looking at. It was the same size and the same price, just that the design was a swirl of red, orange, yellow, and blue flames.
"They're the same," Sora said, cocking her hip.
"Yeah, but this one has fire on it," Ace stated, raising an eyebrow at her. "Much more awesome than the sky."
"Excuse me?" Sora challenged, smirking as she raised her eyebrow. "I have the Kaze Kaze no Mi, my name is Sora – I am the sky."
Ace mirrored her expression. "Exactly."
Sora pretended to laugh walking towards him with her head cocked confidently. "Oh, Portgas D. Ace, are you telling me right now that you think your little fire shit is more awesome than my entire being?"
"That's about the size of it," Ace responded, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at her.
"Oy, oy, don't fight in here," Caleb warned, not sure if he was joking or not.
"Doesn't matter where we fight. I'll still kill this second rate pirate with a flick of my finger," Sora said, poking her slender finger into Ace's chest with the last four words.
"I'd beat the shit out of you so fast that your soul would fly out of you and by the time it made a trip around the world and got back to your body, your small little boobs would have finally developed," Ace retorted, trying his hardest to maintain a straight face.
Caleb could see Sora's lip twitching as she struggled not to laugh. "And when I come back to my body with my new giant, perky boobs, I'll shove them in your face and tell you that you can't have them."
"Ha! Doesn't matter what you try and tell me because everyone knows that daddy makes the rules. But, oh wait, who's your daddy, de Belleville?" Ace looked around as though there were other people in the store who cold provide an answer. Of course, there was only Caleb, who was just standing with his hand over his mouth trying to muffle his laughter. Ace pointed a thumb at himself. "Oh, yeah, it's me. I'm your daddy, so therefore, I make the rules."
The two stared each other down, both of them trying not to crack a smile, until simultaneously, Ace and Sora both burst out laughing, Sora pressing her hand into Ace's chest trying to push him away. Ace scooped her up over his shoulder, laughing. "Alright Caleb, give us the fire one."
"Sky one!" Sora cried, still giggling and trying to squirm out of Ace's grasp, pounding on his back. "Caleb, don't forget that you and I are friends! Don't trust this scoundrel! He's a pirate!"
Caleb chuckled, shaking his head. He held up his hands. "Not getting in the middle of this."
"Oy, you're a good man," Ace said with a grin. "Miss de Belleville is a little delusional though, so uh, yeah, alright, fire one," he told Caleb. He lifted Sora again, looking back at her. "Hey, stop hitting me. I'm going to throw you if you don't stop."
"Stop scolding me like I'm your kid," Sora shot back, continuing to jam her fist into Ace's back.
Ace ignored her, looking at Caleb instead. "I thought I already told her that I'm her daddy and that I make the rules? Fire one, please."
"Sky one!" Sora cried, still unable to break Ace's grip.
"You know, ah, I can custom design one if you want," Caleb offered. "It'll take a few days but I can remake that model and just paint it with flames and a sky."
"Oy, you heard that, small boobs?" Ace called back to Sora.
"I guess we can do half and half," Sora said, sighing. She stopped struggling, resting her chin in her hand as though giving up. "We don't need to give it to Kohaku today, so you can take your time making it, Caleb."
The owner chuckled. "Sure. I'll make it a little smaller to fit Kohaku better and do a flame and sky design, no extra charge."
Sora smiled at him. "Really? Damn, thanks Caleb. Free drinks for life."
Caleb pointed a finger at her. "You said it, not me. I'll be there for Kohaku's party tonight, though."
"Oh, he told you?"
Caleb nodded. "He came in today to look at boards."
Sora grinned, nodding all-knowingly. "I know; he's been talking about wanting one."
Caleb smirked, heading to the cash register. "What a good sister," he said, smiling. "I'll grab an order form from the back, hold on." Caleb slipped through a door to the back area of his shop.
"Thanks," Sora called, but she wasn't facing Caleb anymore, as Ace was now walking towards the register. She giggled. "Ace, let me down so I can grab my money."
"Ace? Who is Ace? I only know a daddy." Sora could hear the sarcasm in his tone.
"I'm not calling you daddy."
"Then I guess you my shoulder will become good friends."
"Please, Ace? Let me down."
Ace raised his other hand to his ear. "Who is this Ace?"
Sora mustered the strength to slip out of Ace's weakened grip. She landed on her feet and stumbled, but only for a moment, before she pushed him hard against the wall, pressing her body against his. Her right hand lowered to his shorts, a few cold fingers slipping beneath the fabric by his hip. Her other arm snaked up his chest and around his neck, and Ace caught a glimpse of her eyes – a sultry mix of dark blues – before he felt her lips near his jaw line. "Oh, daddy," she whispered again, her voice more of a moan than anything, and Ace felt his stomach clench, the feeling of pure, sheer lust nearly overtaking him, surging through his veins, and—
But then, of course, she pulled away, sticking her tongue out at him playfully before giggling and spinning on her heels, marching towards the register. Ace took a deep breath, needing to recover this time. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "Two days in a row? That's getting hotter every time you do it," Ace told her in a joking tone, but was actually completely serious. "Definitely do it more, though. In private. With a bed nearby." Sora laughed, shaking her head at his playful words. Ace shrugged. "Or, you know, no bed. We can do it on the floor or against the wall, on the beach, or in a tree – wherever you want to go, you dirty girl."
Sora laughed again, rolling her eyes. "Never gonna happen. I'm humoring you when I do that. You know that, right?"
Ace furrowed his brows. "But it's not funny. I can't even tell if you're joking."
"Well, I am."
Ace smirked. "Are you sure? 'Cause you're a pretty big cock tease – and only to me. Not even to Marco, with whom you're so obsessed about. So, I think that's a sign that you want some of this." Ace gestured to himself.
Sora scoffed. "Not if you were the last man on earth."
Ace frowned, deflating. "Ouch, de Belleville."
She just giggled as Caleb returned to the front. Sora pulled out a few crumpled bills form her pocket as Caleb punched in numbers into the register. Ace was at her side, also bringing out some of his own money. "Let me," he said, putting his arm out in front of Sora, blocking her.
"Oy, we're splitting for Kohaku's gift," she said, pushing him.
"It's still from the both of us, since we made the design and everything, and the idea is from both our brains. But I'll pay for the board, and how about you just buy me a nice dinner and we'll consider it even," he offered, noticing Caleb smirk to himself a little. "Oh, and we have to call it a date. Or no dice."
"Or I can just pay for my half of the board," Sora said, trying to give Caleb her money. She narrowed her eyes at the owner of the shop when he didn't take the bills. "Caleb. We're friends."
"Just take him to dinner," Caleb said, taking Ace's money instead.
Ace grinned and Sora's jaw dropped. "Caleb, you just betrayed me."
"I did not," he replied, smiling as he shook his head, handing Ace change.
"You did. We're not friends anymore," Sora said, pouting playfully. Caleb just shrugged and Sora stomped her foot. "Damn both of you! Traitors all around!"
The two men laughed and Ace smiled at Caleb gratefully, the other man just nodding discretely. Sora, of course, in her fit, didn't notice any of this. "This is not fair," she continued. "Kohaku's my brother."
"So? You did buy him a gift. I mean, technically I paid for it for now, but you'll pay me back, so you bought it, too," Ace explained.
"I'm not taking you to dinner," Sora stated, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Then, I guess that pretty board Caleb is making for Kohaku is a gift only from daddy," Ace retorted, smirking as she let out an exasperated sigh.
"Fine, then," she said almost immediately, giving up. Ace smiled; it was nice how much Sora cared about Kohaku. "Just tell me when you want to eat and we can go."
"On a date," Ace finished, putting an arm around her.
Sora mumbled gibberish under her breath, mimicking Ace and he just chuckled. "Alright, then, Caleb. See you in a few days to pick up the board."
Caleb waved goodbye as Ace and Sora headed out of the shop.
A/N: The term "make miso soup in the morning" is a Japanese idiom that basically means to be married.