Shanks walked into the door in the early hours of the morning. Shoulders slumped and a yawn on his lips. Cracking his neck, he made his way into the kitchen. The lights were off in every room, the other three occupants fast asleep as he crept his way into the kitchen and to his awaited meal. A plate covered in plastic wrap sat on the counter with a note about what it was and how to heat it up. A shadow shifted.

"Hello Logan."

A huff sounded and an imposing figure step out of the darkness. An unlit cigar in his mouth.

"Came for a visit?" Shanks asked with an easy smile.

"Need your help." He grunted, walking over to sit on a bar stool.

"Three kids, mutants as far as I know, runaway last scene by the Midway forest. You might know them?" Slowly he pulled out a creased photo from his pocket. Three smiling boys looked up at the camera, check to check, their hats denting where they meet each other.

A sharp intake of air rushed through clenched teeth, his hand flying forward to snatch the picture. His hands were shaking as he stared at the picture.

"Do- did you ask Charles of their location?"

"Yeah, figured they would be more willing to come if they had someone familiar."

"Are you bringing them to the school?"

"Anyplace else for them?"

"They would always have a place for me." Shanks whispered. "But they would be safer at the school. Have more chances… more opportunity."

For a long moment, the room was quiet, before Shanks straitened his back and grabbed his discarded coat.

"Come on we can take my car."

After living on the streets for a few weeks, Ace firmly believed it might have been better just to let their grandfather separate them. He thought morbidly as he gazed as his slumbering littlest brother, whose once plump cheeks were stretched and hollowed. Luffy felt the lack of food the most, his once child chubbiness had quickly deteriorating, his once unmatched energy was completely gone as he spent most of the day and night sleeping.

His small body shook, even in the July heat. Ace carefully tucked one of their two blankets around him before moving closer. Watching Luffy's face as it scrunched up in destress. He still hadn't told them what he saw when he had looked at the man. The nightmares from it though, had become well known for him and Sabo. Any energy Luffy got was lost to those nightmares, leaving him more drained then when he had gone to sleep.

Sabo fell forward after he moved though, waking up to blink at the afternoon sun. His curly bling hair, falling limply around his head, as his eyes dulled when he realized where they were. It hurt Ace just to see his one lively brothers so ghost like.

Ace winced as he saw Sabo stand up. Sabo was the lest effected out of the three brothers, the small meals of bread, while not being enough, could sustain him for longer. But Ace had seen Sabo break his bread into smaller pieces, feeding as much of it as he could to Luffy.

Ace as close as he could to Luffy, curling the smaller boy into him for more warmth. Sabo stretched, pushing the blanket, which had been covering him and half of Ace, away. Ace snatched it before it fell to far away and tugging it over himself and half onto Luffy. Watching his blond brother wearily.

"Aye- I'm. I'm gonna look for more food." Sabo mumbled, his voice heavy with sleepiness as he dragged his feet away from the huddle. Ace watched with blank eyes as his blond brother left the box they had claimed as their home, walking through narrow street alley they had adopted as their 'street'.

His brothers were going to starve to death and it was going to be his fault for not controlling his anger.

Sabo walked out the alley, glancing back to watch his brothers balled form. His stomach ached and his legs felt weak, but he had to find food, he had to bring back food, they needed him to. So he tugged on, shuffling in the shadows of the city as he made his way to their-his latest hunt.

His brothers needed him to be the strong one right now, they needed him to survive, and they would survive. He would make sure of it, they weren't gonna be separated and they weren't going to get caught. He'd protect them with everything he had. He glanced nervously at the people around him. As he passed by businessmen coming home from work, women walking home with small children, children and teenagers running around and across streets, and other homeless and runaway shot him suspicious looks. He quickened his pace as he got closer.

The people that were so cruel, that looked at his brothers and yelled monsters, who looked at all of them and yelled for their imprisonment or death. His spine twitched. His wrist aching with phantom pains as he remembered the chains that once restricted his movements. The chains that kept him from his brothers and from his freedom.

He would not let that happen to his brothers.

Quickly he ducked into the alley, avoiding the windows and not looking up. Down the alley, right before the next building started were the dumpsters. Glancing around to make sure no one saw he pulled himself up and into the dumpster, his hands quickly tearing open trash bag to look for edible food. The smell of alcohol made his noise burn, but he pushed on, nearly cheering outload when he found a half-eaten burger and a handful of french-fries. Today was a good day. This is the most he had found in a while, the meat would be much appreciated.

Quickly he scurried back towards their corner, down the street and through the throngs of people. His prize clutched close to his chest and his head down.

"Ace! Luffy!" Sabo gasped nearly breathless from his jog. "I got some food, come on! Get up."

From the nest of blankets two pair of eyes peered out, before the blankets were pulled away.

"Here Luffy." Sabo said, pulling the burger apart into almost halves, giving the largest piece to him. Turning he shoved the other piece of burger at his older brother. Carefully he counted the french-fries splitting them up three ways.

"What bout Sab?" Luffy mumbled, his arms sluggishly bringing the food to his mouth.

"I ate some of what I found already." He life quickly, noting looking at his older brother, knowing Ace would see his lie.

The two darker haired mumbled a 'good' before opening their arms- and blankets- to allow Sabo to join the nest of warmth. Curled up between his brothers Sabo ignored his grumbling stomach and the weird after taste the fries had left in his mouth.

"I'll go back out in a bit. I'll find us more food."

"Thanks…. Sabo." Ace breathed, his head falling onto the blonde's shoulder as he yawned.

Shanks and Logan split up once they hit the city, walking around the block that the Professor had told them the boys could be found. The entire time Shanks bemoaned about how the boys were only a couple blocks away from his bar.

"This the last one?" He asked, when he finally meet back up with Logan, both standing in front of the same alley way.

"Then we move on to the ones around this one."

The alley was like the ones before it, the ground was covered in trash and two large dumpsters were towards the back. Their shoulders slumped forward as depression began to set in. Shanks turned to leave, planning which block to start looking through next.

"Wait." Logan hissed, his eyes focused on rags that were crumpled in a pile next to the dumpsters.

Slowly one pair of blue eyes peeked out of the blanket, blinking slowly at the sight before him.

"Shanks-nii?" A soft voice asked, sounding scratchy and dry.