Closest Thing to a Brother Ch 6
after over a year, this chapter is finally done! Enjoy
Ch. 6. Trying to Fix Things
"PUT ME DOWN! LET ME GO!" Luffy screamed the like over and over as he thrashed under the grip of one of the four thugs that had grabbed him after he flew off the boar he was riding.
"No doubt about it," one of them said, "he's definitely that kid; the one who's always with Ace and Sabo."
"So what do you recon we should do with him?" the one holding him asked.
"Well, I found a working cattle prod last week," another one replied, "we could always use that on him."
"No." the leader said. "The kid's a devil fruit user; he's made of rubber." A sinister grin then spread across his face. "Which brings up the question; if we held him over a fire, would he start to smell like burning rubber or burning flesh?"
The other three grinned widely at the thought while Luffy turned as pale as a sheet.
"Only one way to find out."
"Get a fire started, Victor."
"You got it, boss." The first thug replied.
"SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEEE!" Luffy wailed.
Suddenly a bottle sailed through the air and shattered against the second thug's forehead, sending him toppling backwards.
"DROP HIM!"
Everyone looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw a young boy with a forest green Robin Hood cap that fit somewhat loosely over his dark maroon red hair and a dangerously murderous glint in his dark green eyes.
"Hey, that's the kid from last month!" The thug holding Luffy yelled.
"Yeah, he's the little brat who stole all our hard-swindled money!" Victor said.
"Is that so." The leader sneered.
"Nati!" Luffy exclaimed.
"'Nati'. So that's your name, is it?"
"I said," as Nati dropped his seabag to the ground, it landed on a broken broomstick handle, which caused it to flip into the air and into his hand, "drop him."
"Interesting. And what if we don't?"
As if that were the trigger, Nati launched himself forward, then once he was close enough, drove one of the ends into the ground and pole-vaulted upward towards the leader's head, driving his heel hard into the bridge of his nose. As the leader stumbled a few steps back, Nati pushed himself off his face and landed on his feet a few meters away, the broomstick handle still in his hand. The leader wiped the blood away from his now broken nose and glared at the 8-year-old.
"Consider that a warning," Nati growled, "and it's the only one you get. Now, I'm not going to say this again; drop…him…now!"
"Why you treacherous little brat!" the thug Nati smacked with a bottle charged him with the cattle prod in his hand.
"Hey, save some for me, Flint; I have a bone to pick with that ungrateful little runt too!" Victor pulled out a knife and lunged at the maroon haired boy.
Nati stood his ground until the last possible second then, as Flint thrust the cattle prod at him, parried it away and spun around him, bringing the broomstick down hard across his back. As Flint crashed to the ground, Nati used the force of his attack to catapult himself into the air, dodging Victor as he tried to swipe at him with the knife and as he came back down, swung the handle down on his hand, knocking the knife to the ground and out of his. As he landed, Flint quickly recovered and turned around to try and stick the 8-year-old again but Nati, not missing a beat, dropped the broomstick and pivoted around the attack again, this time grabbing the cattle prod by the rod section with both hands and guiding it into Victor's neck as he reached for his knife. While still in motion, Nati used his momentum to rip the cattle prod away from Flint and as he spun around, jabbed it into his stomach.
With both men on the ground twitching, Nati tossed the cattle prod to one side and picked the broomstick handle back up along with the knife before glaring over at the leader, who quickly pulled out a pistol and aimed it at him. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Nati kicked a skull that was next to his foot at him. The leader smacked it away with the pistol but the moment he did, was greeted by the sight of a broomstick being swung at his head. He brought up his arm to block it, but was still knocked down by the force of the swing, which was strong enough to snap the handle in two, and soon found himself on his back with the maroon haired boy standing over him, holding the knife inches away from his throat, the now broken broomstick once again discarded to one side.
"Your move, pal." Nati said in a calm yet threatening tone. "And I'd be careful if I were you."
The leader looked first at the knife then glared up at him. "You're gonna regret that you wretched little monster."
"Take a number and get in line!"
"NATI, LOOK OUT!" Luffy screamed from behind him.
As Nati turned around, the thug holding Luffy smashed a bottle across his head, splitting open the right side. Dropping the knife, the 8-year-old staggered to the side but didn't go down until the thug kicked the dazed boy to the ground.
"Excellent work, James." The leader said as he got back to his feet.
"My pleasure, boss. Besides, the smug little cretin had it comin' anyway."
Nati tried to get back up but the leader put his boot down on his back and pushed him back to the ground.
"Going somewhere?"
"Bastard…" Nati muttered. "Get off."
"You're in no position to make insults, let alone demands." The leader looked over at the struggling 7-year-old. "Especially considering who I still have captive."
"He may not be," a metal pipe made contact with the leader's face, making him stumble backwards and off the maroon haired boy, "but we are."
Nati looked up after blinking away the spots dancing across his vision and was greeted with the sight of a boy crouching down in front of him wearing an all too familiar blue tail coat.
"Are you alright?" Sabo held out his hand for the 8-year-old, who roughly pushed it away.
"I didn't need your help, gap-tooth!"
"Well you could've fooled us!" Nati looked over Sabo's shoulder to see yet another familiar freckled face smirking at him.
"I thought I told you two not to follow me!"
"And it's a good thing we didn't listen." Ace replied.
"Oh, please, I had him right where I wanted."
"They had you pinned to the ground." Sabo said.
"And it's not the first time I've been cornered; I know what I'm doing."
"Might I point out which one of us is bleeding from the gash on the side of his head?" Ace said.
"He's right," Sabo said, "say whatever you want, you need our help."
After wiping the blood off his face, Nati stood back up and glared at the two 10-year-olds "I think you two have helped enough."
Ace and Sabo cringed at the maroon haired boy's words, dripping with acid.
"We know we made a mistake," Ace muttered, "and that's why we want to help."
"Please, Nati, if there's any chance we can fix this, then you have to let us." Sabo pleaded.
Nari's dark green eyes connected with Sabo's blue eyes for a brief moment then with Aces grey eyes for just as long before he answered.
"Alright." He sighed. "But if you make me regret this-"
"Don't worry," Ace tossed Nati the knife he had dropped, the latter of whom caught it with ease, "you won't."
"If I might interrupt."
The three of them looked over at the leader, who was already back on his feet again by this point. Ace and Sabo gripped their pipes tighter while Nati spun the knife around once in his hand and brought it up in front of him.
"I don't think we have to tell you this…" Sabo began.
"…But put our brother down." Ace finished.
"And why should we?" James sneered.
"In case you haven't noticed," the leader motioned towards Luffy, "you three are still in no position to make demands."
"You wanna bet?" Nati smirked as he stepped in front of the two 10-year-olds "'Cause I'm in the perfect position to!"
"Oh, please," James scoffed, "you may be good, but even you aren't that good."
"I don't have to be better;" Nati reflected the sunlight off the blade and into James' eyes, who instinctively dropped Luffy to shield them. "I just have to be smarter."
The second Luffy touched the ground he immediately bolted towards the three boys, running past Ace, who had charged the remaining thugs, and into Sabo's arms, hugging him tightly. At first, the blond didn't know how to react, having expected Luffy to run to Nati instead of him, but eventually he hugged the trembling 7-year-old back.
"Calm down, Luffy," Sabo started stroking his brother's hair gently, "you're safe now."
Luffy nodded and began to relax into his brother, gripping his jacket tighter. Nati glanced back at Luffy, taking in his still rigid posture, and quickly coming to a decision.
"Luffy," he began, "I want you to head back to the forest with…Ace and Sabo…while I finish up here."
The raven haired boy looked up at Nati. "But-"
"Luffy," Nati turned fully towards him, "you're too shaken up to do much of anything here. Besides, as much as I don't want to admit it, you'd be safer with them than you would with me right now, okay?"
Luffy held his friend's gaze for a moment longer then reluctantly nodded.
"Uhh…not that I don't agree with you," Sabo said as Nati turned away, "but what makes you think you can take those guys on alone?"
Nati stopped and glared at the blond out of the corner of his eye.
"Because I don't start what I can't finish; my father taught me that."
With that, the maroon haired boy ran off towards Ace, who had by this point pushed both thugs back and was about to finish them both off when Nati placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll take it from here."
Ace spun around to face him. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to-"
"You're going to," Nati grabbed the 10-year-old by his collar, "because you have a 'little brother' to take care of! Now, MOVE IT!"
The 8-year-old shoved Ace in the direction of the other two boys then gave him a look that dared him to argue. Although he wanted to do just that, Ace could see the amount of distrust Nati still had both in him and Sabo, just as easily as he had heard it in his voice, so he reluctantly turned to join his brothers.
Satisfied, Nati turned towards the remaining thugs and was immediately greeted by the sight of a metal shard being thrown at him, which he deflected into the air then, seeing the pistol the leader had aimed at him, quickly jumped after it. Grabbing it, he threw the shard at the leader's hand, knocking the pistol out of it and as he landed, placed the knife in his mouth and grabbed a nearby heavy chain with both hands. Swinging it several times above his head, Nati threw it at the two men, tangling them up by their legs and causing them to topple over. Taking the blade out of his mouth, the maroon haired boy looked at the two of them as they tried to untangle themselves and smiled.
"So," Nati smirked, "you guys still think I'm in no position to make dema-MA-MA-MA-MA-MA!"
Nati's entire body arched as Flint, who had by this point recovered along with Victor, plunged the cattle prod into his side.
"As a matter of fact, we do." He said.
The three brothers looked over when they heard Nati's voice stammer and watched in shocked horror as the 8-year-old dropped to his knees twitching; Luffy though watched more with horror.
"NATI!" the 7-year-old tried to get to his friend's side but was stopped when Sabo grabbed his arm.
"Luffy, no! You'll get hurt!"
"I don't care; he's my best friend!"
"So that's your connection to the little brat, is it?" the leader smirked as he and James got the chain off them and stood up.
"Well then," Victor walked up closer to Nati from behind, raising his arm to backhand him, "in that case, this is about to become very entertaining…for us."
Victor brought his hand down towards the maroon haired boy but before he made contact, Nati forcefully grabbed his wrist. For a brief and frightening moment, he didn't say anything or even move until suddenly his other hand, dropping the knife, shot up and grabbed Victor's shirt collar.
"Try and smack me, will ya?!" he snarled.
In one swift movement, Nati yanked the man off balance and drove him head first into the ground, knocking him out cold. Everyone froze and stared at the 8-year-old as he once again grabbed the knife and slowly stood up, then glared over at Flint, the look in his eyes more murderous than it had ever been before.
"Now for the bastard who electrocuted me."
In an instant, Nati lunged at Flint, who in his panic swung the cattle prod at his head. But before it made contact, Nati slashed the prod mid-swing with enough force to cut it in two. Then he grabbed the broken end as it was falling and while there was still a charge, thrust it into Flint's leg, dropping him to the ground, before he drove his knee into the man's diaphragm, knocking him onto his back dazed and gasping for breath.
"And let that be a lesson to you!" Nati growled as he tossed the broken cattle prod to the side and glanced over at the three brothers.
"I thought I told you three to get moving!" he yelled.
Ace and Sabo quickly turned around and ran for the forest, neither of them noticing that Luffy, who was trailing behind them, was looking back at his friend. He then turned around and ran to the 8-year-old's side, much to Nati's annoyance.
"Luffy, I said-"
"You're my best friend, Nati." The raven haired boy replied sternly. "I don't want you to get hurt when there might be something I can do."
"Luffy-"
"I'm not a helpless little boy anymore; I can fight back. And I'm not going to let you fight alone."
The maroon haired boy met the gaze from Luffy's soft brown eyes for a brief moment before he looked away and sighed in annoyance.
"Okay, fine." Nati groaned. "But I'm not letting you fight unarmed."
"But I don't have my pipe with me."
"Luffy, have I taught you nothing?!" Nati grabbed a cracked vase next to his foot and started tossing it up and down. "What's the second rule of fighting?"
The 7-year-old folded his arms in front of him and closed his eyes to think. After a moment, his eyes snapped open in remembrance and he looked around until his saw a dented cooking pan.
"Anything can be used as a weapon?" Luffy picked up the pan and held it defensively behind his head.
"Thattaboy." Nati glanced back at the two men. "Now then, where were we?"
"B-b-but, that's impossible!" James stammered. "How can you still be standing, much less move like that, after getting electrocuted?!"
"If I didn't know how to take a hit like that, then I would've been taken down by thugs more dangerous than you guys long before I ever came here."
Nati tossed the vase into the air higher than before and the second he did, Luffy jumped up and batted it at James' head, hitting him in the mouth with enough force to knock out one of his teeth.
"THAT'S for what you did to Nati!" he yelled.
"And THIS is for what you tried to do to Luffy!"
Nati launched himself at the two of them with Luffy close behind him the second he touched the ground.
"Why didn't you keep an eye on him while we were running?!" Sabo yelled.
"Why didn't you?!" Ace retorted.
"Because someone had to make sure you didn't turn back to fight those guys!"
"Well, I thought he was following us anyway!"
Sabo cracked his pipe across Ace's head. "Haven't you been paying attention this past month?! Luffy's been practically avoiding us ever since…"
Sabo's rage faltered as he remembered what happened last month and he bit his bottom lip in frustration. Seeing his discomfort, Ace placed a hand on Sabo's shoulder, the latter of whom looked over at him.
"He has to at the very least be close to Grey Terminal;" he began. "We'll start there."
"No need."
The two brothers looked in the direction of the new voice and saw Nati walking towards them, with his seabag slung across his stomach and Luffy situated on his back unconscious.
"LUFFY!" Sabo yelled.
"What the hell happened to him?!" Ace said as he and Sabo ran up to them.
"He's fine; just exhausted." Nati grumbled. "Fighting off a group of lowlifes that refuse to back down will do that to a boy who's been through that he has."
"Why would he do that to himself?"
"It's Luffy; this surprises you?"
"… Good point."
"To be honest, I can't believe even after everything, you still trust us enough to bring Luffy back to us." Sabo said after taking his brother off Nati's back.
"I don't." He sneered, getting both their attention.
"Then why did you?" Ace asked.
At that moment, the three boys heard a small tired groan and immediately turned their attention to the 7-year-old in Sabo's arms. Luffy slowly opened his eyes and looked at his friend, whose mood quickly changed.
"Hey there, Luffy, you feeling alright?" he said softly.
Luffy slowly nodded, his eyes already starting to glaze over.
"Good." Nati straightened up and began to turn to leave.
"… Hey Nati?" Luffy murmured tiredly.
The maroon haired boy glanced back at him. "Yeah?"
What Luffy said next made both brothers' hearts skip a beat;
"Thanks…for bringing me home…"
Smiling, Nati reached over and gently ran his hand through Luffy's hair.
"No problem, little buddy." He chuckled. "Now get some rest; you've earned it."
With that, Luffy closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep, a gentle smile across his face.
"Luffy asked you to take him back?" Ace mused.
Nati's mood quickly changed again and after shifting his seabag more comfortably onto his back, glared at the two 10-year-olds. "If I had my way, Luffy would be staying with me throughout my visit instead of you two."
After readjusting his Robin Hood cap firmly onto his head, Nati spun around and began to walk away.
"Nati, wait!" Sabo called out, 8-year-old slowed down but didn't stop. "I'm sorry."
Ace placed a hand on the blonds shoulder. "We both are."
Nati stopped walking for a moment and looked over his shoulder at the two brothers.
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." He growled before turning away again.
After the maroon haired boy disappeared into the forest, Ace and Sabo looked first at each other then down at their sleeping brother, knowing full well he was right.
"Have we ever screwed up this badly, Ace?" Sabo muttered.
"Not that I know of."
"Big help you are."
"Don't worry; Luffy was still forgiving towards me even after everything I did to make him stop following me. He'll forgive us for something like this." Ace replied, although he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.
With neither of them wanting to explain to Dadan what happened, Ace and Sabo decided to take Luffy to the river and wait for him to wake up. Throughout that time, the two brothers couldn't stop thinking about everything that had transpired since last month and whether or not Luffy would forgive them.
It wasn't until two hours later, when the boys started cooking lunch, that Luffy finally woke up and even then, the three of them hardly spoke to one another for the rest of the day. Later that night, as they were getting ready for bed, Sabo finally steeled his nerves.
"Hey, Luffy?"
"Hmmm?" Luffy hummed, not moving to look at his brother.
"You know we would never do anything to hurt you, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you also know we'd never turn away from you no matter how mad we get, right?"
Luffy sat up and looked at the blond in confusion. "Sabo, is something wrong?"
Sabo was sitting with his arms resting on his knees, looking forward with his eyes cast down.
"I'm sorry, Luffy." He murmured. "I should've known even you would never tell anyone I was a noble; and even then I still overreacted towards you."
Sabo refused to meet his brother's gaze, afraid of what he would see if he did. There was a long silence between the two of them before Luffy spoke up.
"Nati did the same thing to me once." Sabo looked at the 7-year-old, who was looking away himself. "He guessed right something about me that I never told even Makino and that only a few people know about. When he did, I got really scared because I couldn't figure out how he found out and when he realized I never told anyone, he started to panic and then he refused to leave his ship or even talk to me for the rest of the day. I didn't understand why until he explained how he knew and I realized he was scared that he had lost me as a friend because of something he can do." Luffy turned towards his brother. "I was never upset because I thought you disowned me; I was upset because I knew Nati thought you had and I was afraid you guys wouldn't be friends because you were all angry at each other."
Sabo could only stare at the raven haired boy in total shock at what he had just said. He then sighed smiling and placed a hand on Luffy's back.
I should've known; he thought. Luffy never worries about himself.
"All the same, I shouldn't have yelled at you, and I'm sorry for that." Sabo glanced at Ace's sleeping form. "Ace is sorry too, but you and I both know he's never going to directly admit it."
Luffy giggled softly as he looked first at Ace, then back at Sabo, who pulled him into a gentle hug.
"I'm just glad you're okay."
Luffy smiled and wrapped his arms around his brother in response. After a moment, Sabo moved to let go of Luffy and lie down but the 7-year-old held on tightly to his vest. Understanding what he wanted, Sabo leaned back with Luffy now resting on his chest and pulled the covers over both of them.
"Goodnight, Lu."
Luffy snuggled closer to the blond and sighed contently.
"I knew you'd come." He whispered before falling asleep.
Sabo's breath hitched in his throat as he glanced down at his sleeping brother. At the same time, he felt another set of eyes staring at them and couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"Even when he had every reason to, he never lost hope in us or stopped believing we'd be there for him." Sabo looked over and met Ace's shocked gaze. "Luffy's just full of surprises, isn't he."
Ace shook away the shock and just huffed as he turned away from his brothers, wrapping himself up in the blankets. Sabo could only smile as he settled more comfortably in his position and fell asleep knowing that everything was finally right among the three brothers again.
To be continued
needless to say chapter just didn't want to be written. but I'm glad I finished it and I hope it was worth the wait! and here's hoping the next one will be more cooperative