HAH HA! I'm back! With this story in particular~ you might have noticed that I renamed it, it's gonna stay this name this time, I promise!
Funny story: this is not the chapter 2 I started writing at the beginning of this week. I wrote 2.7ishk of this one scene that I thought would be a GREAT start to chapter 2 only to realize I needed some space between the end of chapter 1 and chapter 2….so original chapter 2 became chapter 3 :P
I have no idea when I'll finish the rest of chapter 3 but it'll hopefully be sometime within the next month or so?
SCHOOL IS BUSY SO WHO EVEN KNOWS ANYMORE?
ONWARDS!
Sabo let out a huge yawn and stretched his arms above his head, leaning to the left and right to get all the kinks out of his back. Classes being an hour and a half are tough on his back.
A twinge from his right side caused Sabo to stop stretching and practically slam his head on the desk. The villain from yesterday was really hard on him physically; especially since he didn't have Marco, Phoenix, as back up because the stupid blond was helping his father get ready for school today.
He let a light whine escape his lips as he looked to his left to give Marco his best puppy dog eyes. Of course the stupid peacock was just smirking at him with that infernal "haha" look.
"Come on, Sabo. Stretch your legs before the next teacher comes, yoi." At least his boyfriend was still thoughtful when he was being all I-told-you-so.
So what if Marco said some of his older brothers would be out patrolling so Phoenix and Blue Gentleman could have the night before their first day of school off? Sabo did everything to get out of his house and Marco knew that.
"You should have invited me over. You know I would have helped with things." Sabo turned in his seat as he spoke, facing the now standing Marco who had a wide smile on his face.
"Help with things my ass, yoi. You would have distracted me the whole time and you know it." Marco placed one hand on Sabo's desk and the other on his chair and leaned over, practically looming over the slightly younger blond.
Their faces were a few centimeters apart and a wide smile spread across Sabo's face as he decided to mess with his boyfriend a little bit.
"Oh? Distract you how, exactly?" he moves slightly closer to the standing blond and had to keep his hands to himself as Marco matched his movement.
The Magical Boy could feel puffs of the hero's breath on his lips and instead of letting the teasing continue, Sabo closes the distance and kisses his boyfriend lightly.
For once Sabo didn't try to control the whole action and just relaxed, letting Marco wrap a hand around his neck to deepen the kiss.
Unfortunately it only lasted a few moments, removing and replacing mouths over and over but not letting it go much further than that. They WERE in class after all.
Both blonds would have loved to continue kissing the whole fifteen minute break for the teacher change, but they were interrupted by someone they weren't expecting at all.
The strange kid behind Sabo, Ace, suddenly slammed his head on his desk and placed both gloved hands on either side of his down facing face.
Sabo had pulled away from Marco at the noise and looked over to the left at the dude with his head on the table. His right eyebrow rose as he watched Ace rub his head with gloved fingers.
His mouth opened shortly after, about to as what the hell this guy's problem was when another classmate stopped him via distraction.
"Saboooooooo!"
The blond lurched forward in his chair, head slamming into Marco's stomach as he was run into from behind. Still Sabo couldn't stop the wide smile that spreads across his face.
"Good morning, Koala."
The orange haired girl laughed as she bounced around to the front of Sabo's desk, plopping her butt right on his desk face.
Sabo totally didn't mind, he hadn't seen his best friend in over a MONTH because she was on vacation with her guardian. Well vacation kind of pushed it, they only went to the town over to visit her guardian's son but that was beside the point.
"It is a good morning isn't it?! Hey! Why didn't you two stay hi when you came in?!" her light pink lips pursed and her brows furrowed as she leaned closer to Sabo's face.
Her chest was huge in the pink shirt she chose to wear today but that wasn't something he paid too much attention to.
"We came in a bit late if you didn't notice." Sabo tried to placate her but she just crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks.
"Yeah because you two were too busy being lovey dovey I bet!"
Sabo smiled widely at that and laced his fingers with Marco's, laughing at the light pink that spread across his cheeks. So cute.
"Anyway. How was your trip, yoi?"
If anything Sabo knew his boyfriend was good at shifting subjects and he almost laughed out loud as Koala grabbed on to the hook and took the bait.
Dark blue eyes sparkled as she clasped both hands under her chin, sighing lightly with a faraway look in her eyes.
"Oh it was amazing, Marco! The air of everything over there is so much heavier than here! Mr. Dragon's hometown is practically riddled with bad guys and his son is the HERO that takes care of it all~!" She wiggled on the desk as she closed her eyes and placed her hands on her flushed cheeks.
Sabo did chuckle at this point; his best friend LOVED cities that she could possibly move to, and save. Not to mention the shorter blond had some insider knowledge as to why this city interested his best friend so much.
"Oh? And how did things go with that older woman?" Sabo smirked shyly as Koala's cheeks reddened and she puffed them up again.
"Turns out that she was MARRIED!"
The blond's face fell and he was about to apologize when the orange haired girl spoke again.
"And then there was a cute blue haired non-powered girl but SHE has a girlfriend that can manipulate WEATHER!"
Sabo instantly thought he was going to listen to Koala complain about the unfairness when she went completely different direction.
"How cool is that?! WEATHER MANIPULATION! All the possibilities to save people!"
The metaphorical hearts in her eyes were enormous and Sabo couldn't help but laugh. Trust his best friend to not get down about taken ladies and to instead crush on them both.
Another smack from the seat behind Sabo interrupted his thoughts, again, and he almost wanted to yell at Ace but when he looked to the side he was surprised by a strip of visible skin.
On the back of his neck, black hair was visible as it tickled dark tan skin. Sabo started leaning a bit closer to get a better look, when a gloved hand slammed over the area and another pulled the beanie back down to cover the visible area back up.
He frowned and ignored his boyfriend and best friend as he opened his mouth to ask Ace why he was always covered head to toe. The curiosity was killing him.
Of course, outside forces had different ideas and the door to the classroom slammed open revealing a red-haired older man with three scars running through his left eye.
Oh shit.
Sabo had heard about this teacher. He was Thatch and Izou's homeroom after all.
Mr. Shanks.
"Good morning, my adorable seniors! My name is Shanks and I don't believe any of you have had the pleasure of my teaching! How fantastic!" he was definitely as loud as Thatch said he was…maybe he wasn't as obsessed with his almost kid as Izou said he was…
"Now how about you all get seated while I tell you a bit about me?!"
Sabo frowned as he accepted a kiss on the cheek from Koala before she headed over to her desk, just a seat apart from Marco's. The hero, on the other hand, placed a chaste kiss on the Magical Boy's lips before he moved back to his seat. He couldn't stop the scowl from forming on his face as his hand slipped from his boyfriend's.
"Now. You all know my name is Shanks. I actually live a town over but I work here as a favor to the old man. I'm happily married to my better half, Benn Beckman, who also works here. Our boyfriend, Mihawk, stays in our town with his sword training dojo. We have a practically adopted hero son whose biological father lives here to help out his nephew. Aaaaaanddd yeah that's pretty much it."
There was a wide smile stretching across his face as he seemed to take joy in the shocked looks on every single person's face. Except Ace, because of the covered face and all.
"Any questions?!"
"Yeah! What are you teaching?!" a kid yelled out from the front left of the classroom and Sabo shook his head in annoyance at the outburst.
"GOOD QUESTION, YOUNG SENIOR WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN SHOUTING OUT WITHOUT A RAISED HAND!" Mr. Shanks slammed his hands on his desk and looked at the kid with wide eyes and a really wide smile.
The teacher stayed like that for quite a while, smiling widely with his wide eyes locked on the student for pretty much an uncomfortable amount of time. Sabo had to smile to himself, sure the teacher was loud but he seemed pretty funny so far.
"AND!" he started suddenly, causing the students in front of the blond to jump in surprise.
"In a fit of complete and utter irony for a think later action now kinda guy, I teach Battle Tactics!"
Sabo chanced a glance over to Marco as Mr. Shanks started setting up for his lesson of the day, whipping out a few different colored whiteboard markers out of his bag.
The Magical Boy wasn't expecting the bright focused eyes and the wide smile stretched across his face, hand tightly holding a pen, ready to take notes. Sabo really shouldn't have been surprised, Phoenix was such a tactical genius that it made sense this was the going to be his favorite class.
Glancing back up at the red-haired teacher, Sabo quickly reached across the aisle and rapped lightly on the wooden surface of the desk face.
Marco looked over at him with wide eyes and a raised brow, glancing from him to the teacher in quick succession. Sabo just smiled and leaned a bit further across until he was just close enough to pull Marco down by his collar and give him a nice big kiss on the lips.
He righted himself shortly afterwards, making it look like he hadn't moved at all when Mr. Shanks turned around to address the class. The questioning look from the older blond simply made Sabo's smile all the wider.
Looking around to make sure no one was paying attention, Sabo quickly mouthed out "I love you" before turning back to his own notebook and returning his attention to the teacher.
Out of the corner of his eye he couldn't help but notice the bright red spreading across his normally more stoic boyfriend.
School was still as great as ever.
-TODAY THERE WAS A FORECAST FOR A LINE! AND TIS WAS!-
Ace was not expecting to see Shanks teaching his class. He didn't expect the introduction that mentioned him. He didn't expect Benn to show up for the General Education class as the professor*. He didn't expect for Sabo fucking Outlook to be FRIENDS with tio's (uncle's) charge.
How were all these coincidências (coincidences) happening to him…
Three. There were three momentos…moments…during class where he almost had to leave class because of the headaches.
And two of them were because of the two blonds that sat in front of him in class.
He shook his head and leaned over his desk, trying to cycle through all of the excitement, happiness, stress, anxiety that was going on in the room around him.
Lunch time was his own personal hell and Ace was beyond glad that Tuesday and Thursday classes didn't have such a slot due to extended class hours. He would have much preferred being home, sparring with meu velho, eating the food that mãe prepared, and being able to have conversations in Português.
Homeschooling really was a better option for him.
Not to mention that schools had this strange idea that almoço (lunch) could be compacted into a short time period of only thirty minutes. Almoço is supposed to be leisurely, with enough time to eat all three courses.
But no, mãe had to pack smaller versions of what they would normally have because there wasn't enough time for him to eat everything at the proper pace.
It was irritating to say the least.
A sudden twinge of panic followed by a deep heavy cloud of alegria (glee) had Ace looking up. Valentão was cornering a small looking student into a wall. Of course no one else was looking, all too self-involved in their own little worlds, so Ace took a deep breath to center himself again and flush everything back out and stood.
Ace was always quiet in school. He stayed after classes ended often enough to get some Inglês help from Dadan, and he was a good student but he never spoke in class. Speaking Inglês atrapalhado (messy English) made other students laugh at him.
After the first week of that last year Ace had learned that lição…lesson. Ah, Meu Deus (Oh my god), he would figure it out soon enough.
But that did not mean that Ace didn't stick up for what he knew was right. The small student was terrified of whatever valentão was saying to them and he was taking glee in that fear.
Ace wouldn't stand for it.
Hesitantly but confidently he walked over to the pair, not moving his head as he glanced from side to side to see if anyone else had possibly noticed what was going on by now.
Still Ace was disappointed by the students of this school. While preaching good and justice and rights, they never stopped to look at what was going on right under their noses. Hipócritas, hypocrites, the lot of them.
Idly he noticed that neither of the two blonds that sat in front of him were in the room, and they always had such lovely emotions, perhaps they were the exclusions to the veil of rightness.
The closer Ace moved, the more overwhelmed he felt by the small students fear. They were well and truly in a dark place thanks to the asshole. He closed his eyes briefly, imagining a water wheel taking in emotions and then sending them back out, before he reached out his gloved hand and placed it on the offender's shoulder.
Neither party was quite expecting the action. Ace because it came with a sudden rush of vengeful enjoyment, hate, and, and something that curdled the caldo verde** his mother had made him for almoço.
And of course valentão was simply surprised by the sudden touch.
He whipped around so fast and gave Ace a glare that probably would have scared anyone else, but Ace knew this boy. He was a valentão, yes, but he was fraco (weak) and had no real power.
"What the hell do you want, you masked freak."
See this goes back to the whole silence thing. Ace didn't talk at school, even when he was standing up to valentão, he would just stare at him until something else came up or the boy got unnerved and slunk away.
"Don't look at me like that, monster! This ain't none of your business!" There was that word again, the same one that Dadan used earlier, and for the life of him Ace had no idea at all what it could mean.
So Ace just left his hand on the shoulder, gripping a little tighter despite the cramping in his stomach getting worse. Outro dia, outra dor was more than just a way for Ace to get through the day. It was a lembrete (reminder) that his ability was dolorosa, painful, that it would continue to be painful, and he couldn't change that.
Gritting his teeth behind his facemask, Ace moved his head so he looked like he was looking at the poor small student and jerked his head back. The student nodded frantically and ran for the door, running to the right and down the hall to the calouros (freshmen) classes.
Figures valentão would have to pick on someone so much younger than he was. Vergonhoso (disgraceful).
"You fucking shit! How dare you?! I was having a conversation with that chick!" Valentão sounded angry but the fuzzing feeling in Ace's head told him that he was confused as well. The empath really didn't understand why valentão would be confused, Ace stopped him all the time.
"Listen you unloved piece of useless, stop getting in my fucking way. You ain't doin' nothin' but pissing me the fuck off, and people normally don't fucking like that." His feelings stayed the same the entire time valentão spoke, so Ace just tilted his head to the side.
For all intents and purposes, Ace was fucking worried.
He always tried to stay out of attention, he was already the monstro, MONSTER, of the school, he didn't want people to think of him as a valentão as well.
Ace couldn't control his flinch when the other student suddenly wrapped his arm around his covered neck. The fuzziness in his head shifted all to one side as another bout of pain echoed from the other, his stomach was really trying to cave in on itself, and Ace had to fight the nausea that was slowly making its way up his throat.
"You're on my fucking radar now, you shitfaced punk. You think you did that ugly chick a favor but you just painted a giant fucking target on your wimpy fucking back. Think twice before you go anywhere you shit stain."
Valentão curled his lips in such a way that had Ace wanting to punch him right in his boca, his mouth stupid, but a deep breath of the herbal mixture calmed him down as it always did.
Within seconds Ace had ducked out of the unwanted hold and glared at the offender, rolling his head slightly as the churning of his stomach turned into floating bubbles instead, and his head whipped to the door.
Backing away from valentão whose glare was getting more and more intense, Ace quickly placed himself to the side of the door, so he could avoid the two students entering the room and still leave to run to the bathroom.
The unwanted touching from the…revolting boy couldn't be chased away by the feelings of the most popular couple in school. Despite how much the heat rushing through his limbs had made Ace just a little bit lighter.
"Não, feio. Deixa elas em paz. (No, ugly. Leave it alone.)" Ace muttered to himself, barely making much of a sound and more breathing the words out than actually speaking.
The door opened the other way, and Ace pressed back against the wall as it hid valentão from view but brought in the perfect picture of the two blonds walking hand in hand.
The bubbles in his stomach started to multiply and the fuzziness and pain in his head transformed into a haze that he was quite familiar with after a year of sharing a class with the love birds.
Ace's goggles started to fog up, and he shook his head, missing the feel of his bangs swishing against his cheek, trying to stop the tears from welling up before they made it…impossible to see.
As soon as there was enough space to do so, Ace slid through the door, behind the casal (couple). A rush of tingling up his spine signified that he had accidently touched one of them, and honestly he didn't particularly care which it was.
A sharp jab of feathers on his back was the only indicator that he wasn't as invisible as he wanted to be…
Luckily the banheiro…the bathroom, wasn't that far away from the classroom this time, so Ace reached it in no time at all.
A loud dinging rang through the hallway signaling the end of almoço and the beginning of the last class of the day. Which also meant no one in their right mind would be in the bathroom.
So he wasted no time in slamming the door open and rushing for the handicapped stall, he counted right?
The empath waited until the door was locked before he almost ripped his mask while pulling it down and throwing himself over the toilet.
Black tiles were…repugnant, but Ace was more focused on his almoço making its way out of his…mouth. After the first wave, he pushed his goggles up so the streams of tears could properly pour down his cheeks and not fog them up too much.
Ace's body was quivering and sweating as wave after wave of sick continued to escape him. He squeezed his eyes shut as the curdling in his stomach came back briefly.
Even with just his face showing, Ace could feel valentão and his his maldade (evilness).
Tremor followed tremor and it wasn't even comida (food) anymore, just bile and acid that burned his throat as it left trails of pain in his body.
At the same time the bubbles and fluff from Sabo Outlook and Marco Newgate made the suffering a little more bearable. The feathers running down his spine he could do without, though.
It was understandable that students would be curious in class, they were learning new things after all.
During a pause of the waves of sickness, Ace could feel the rushing of cool water flowing through his veins. Starting at his eyes and circling down to his hands, feet, then back; the coolness soon overpowered all of the other feelings he had. Even the pain and curdling of his stomach.
There was a rapping noise from outside the stall and Ace lifted his head, looking at the stall door a little despondently, not fully processing exactly what the sound actually was.
"Quem…quem é? (who…who is it?)" he spoke quietly, retching again shortly after, trying hard to hope that the noise wasn't from a nativo, otherwise there would be more fofoca (gossip) about him.
He really didn't need something like that going around.
"Filo? Você tá doente? Sua cabeça dói de novo? (Godson? Are you sick? Does your head hurt again?)" The voice coming through the door was low and soothing, tickling his ears and combining with the cool rushing feeling to relax him again.
"Pa-Padrinho…(Godfather…)"
"To entrando, tudo bem? (I'm coming in, alright?)"
Ace didn't get to okay his godfather, Shanks, before another wave of sick pushed through turning him back to the toilet seat.
Idly he flushed the toilet as the door opened and steps echoed across tiles toward the last stall that Ace was in.
"Ok, ok, respira devagar, filho. Preciso que você se concentre apenas em mim, em mim e minhas emoções. (Okay, okay, breathe slowly godson. Focus on me. Just me and my emotions.)"
Ace used the calming techniques tio had taught him at the beginning of the summer; imagining a lake, unmoving water and quiet surroundins. Only the cool feeling of Shanks' perpetual calm.
"Bom Bom. Vou abrir a porta, tudo bem? (Good, good. I'm opening the stall, alright?)"
There was a clinking and a bit of rattling as Shanks used his dom to slide the lock open.
Ace always thought Shanks' dom didn't really fit him. Telekinesis would fit Benn better than the red-head…
"Oh filho…Você vai supercar isso…é só mais um dos vários buracos que você vai encontrar pelo caminho! (Oh godson…You will get through this…this is just a minor hump in the road!" Ace could hear the smile as his godfather knelt down next to him and placed his bare hand on Ace's back, giving him something tangible to actually focus on.
"I-eu não posso…eu preciso de mãe…e-eo pai…(I cannot…I need mom…and-and dad…)"
"I know…Vamos leva-lo para casa. (Let's get you home.)"
"Mas o meu saco…(But my bag…)"
Ace could feel his lip tremble as he spoke, hands gripping onto Shanks' long sleeves, trying to keep his focus on the flow of calm…instead of the bubbles, feathers, and nausea from down the hall.
Benn is getting in, afilhado. You just focus on me okay?"
Closing grey eyes and a shallow nod was all that Ace could bring himself to do as Shanks took all of his weight.
His hand was shaking as he lifted it to replace his mask and goggles on his face, slightly dulling the different sensations fighting for his attention.
It had been a long time since Ace had been this weak and sick after someone's emotions overwhelmed him. Must be because valentão touched him…
It scared the empath. Was he getting stronger? Getting sick because of a touch through TWO layers of clothes?
Maybe he should just do himself and everyone else a favor and never leave his house again.
"Don't…do not worry about the student's getting curious, okay? Atmos has them outside for the rest of the class for a show and tell today, so no one will see Benn grabbing your stuff."
Ace just nodded slowly against Shanks' chest, eyes closing as he felt the ice of Benn's cool collected emotions coming closer.
The cold was such a relief from the normal inferno, that the empath really couldn't stop himself from slackening and deixar o sono vencê-lo (letting sleep overcome him).
-COME FORTH, MINE LINE! AND SEPARATE POV CHANGES!-
Marco smiled as he walked through the hallway, his hand laced with his boyfriend's as they moved forward. Thatch and Izou were walking with them, the two tired of taking the bus after only this morning so they were catching a ride with the blonds; even though his brothers always complained about the lack of leg room in the backseat.
Glancing to his right, Marco smiled wider at the lovely profile picture Sabo presented. It was amazing how beautiful he was when his biological parents both looked like the unholy spawn of a meat grinder and an ogre…wait…that was mean to the ogre…
Anyway, they might not have gotten along and been border line antagonistic that first year they knew each other, but it was different now. Marco knew Sabo about as well as Sabo knew him, which was quite well all things considered.
Which means Marco can tell when Sabo is occupied by some sort of inquiry or mystery that he couldn't work out. And despite his friendly smile, now was one of those times when Sabo was preoccupied in his mind.
It was all good while they were walking, but once they reached the bright blue corvette that Marco has loved and taken care of since he was sixteen.
Hey a famous and well-loved father had to come with some kind of benefits right?
Anyway. Once they all entered the car Sabo's smile slid from his face and his serious thinking face was on. Marco sighed. It was never easy getting Sabo to share when he was contemplating.
"Hey…Ruffles…what's up with you, yoi?" Marco spoke lightly, despite the car being soundproof. A hero and a Magical Boy could never be too careful with their conversations after all.
"Eh? Oh…solo ese niño que se encuentra detrás de mi, que no estaba en la última clase y no vi sus cosas en la habitación…Me pregunta bora dónde iba es todo…"
Marco sighed as he heard the fast paced Spanish come out of his boyfriend…the younger blond was smart as hell, but damn if his memory didn't need some serious work.
"Sabo…love…really, yoi? You know I can't understand fast Spanish…" Marco heard his brothers laughing at him and shot a glare at the back seat pair as he arrived at a stop light.
However he did get the pleasure of his boyfriend's face flushing red, and shift his bangs from covering his scar in embarrassment.
"I'm sorr-"
"Nuh uh." Marco cut his blond off fast, as he always did with such apologies.
"Don't apologize for speaking Spanish, just say it slower for me or give me the translation, ok, yoi?" A light smile flitted across the scarred blond's face as Marco stepped on the gas, in a hurry to get home.
"I was just curious about the kid who sits behind me in class. He wasn't in last class and I didn't see his stuff when we got back to the room, even though it was there when Atmos started class…" Sabo's voice was quiet but still stretched enough that Izou and Thatch heard it in the back seat.
"Woah woah, what kid?" Thatch's deep voice echoed with the volume level he chose.
Marco flinched and rubbed his ear as he worked to keep his focus on the road and not his overly loud brother in the back seat.
"You know, that one kid that doesn't show a lick of skin, yoi. Completely covered head to toe." He wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying and watched as a car in the other lane passed with a very shiny dangling thing hanging off of the rear view. Pretty…
He zoned a bit, thinking about the sparkling off of the shiny thing. It was almost rainbow with how it reflected the sunshine in so many different ways…
"Hey, pretty bird, did you see something shiny again?"
Sabo's tones made Marco roll his head and wiggle as the sound ran down his back and out of his feet…it should be illegal how good he sounds.
"So what if I did dammit. Shiny things are distracting for everyone, yoi!"
The older blond couldn't stop his lip from curling, Sabo never meant to be insulting with his pet names, but his brothers often over heard and used them to make fun of him…Izou was pretty considerate but when Thatch and Marco were at odds, the chef always used one of the affectionate names against him.
It wasn't overly fun.
Not to mention, Thatch was also the one who used his Phoenix nature against him. He couldn't help how he was born, dammit.
"It's alright, Tufts, I think it's cute."
When Marco looked over at his boyfriend to see if the younger blond was teasing, he was delighted to see the bright smile and pink cheeks displayed on his boyfriend.
The elder returned the smile with glee and chuckled as the other brought their joined hands up to his lips to lay a light kiss on Marco's knuckles.
"ANYWAY." Thatch spoke loudly as he coughed in a very fake manner, and looked at Marco through the rearview with a raised eyebrow, his left arm wrapped securely around Izou's waist.
"Actually, that kid, his name is Ace by the way, has dark tanned skin. Like he fell asleep out in the sun too long. Or maybe is from a country on the equator? Or just spends a lot of time outside? Darn, all of those are equally plausible."
Marco couldn't stop himself; he looked over at Sabo with side eyes, mouth hanging open as well. He knew his boyfriend was curious and observant but not to a point like this.
Finding out the kid's name was one thing, you just had to listen to the roll call close enough and there's that. But the kid had been in their class, their school, for a whole year already and no one knew what he looked like, not even a little bit.
ONE DAY.
ONE.
That was all it took for Sabo to find out his skin color…this was why Marco pitied anyone who held Sabo's curiosity for too long.
"Marco!"
At the shout said blond returned his attention to the road just in time to stop at a red stop light.
"Really, feather head?"
Thatch had his mouth open to release some more sass but Izou, the angel, slapped his hand over his boyfriend's mouth and glared at him until the other gave in and sat quietly.
"Sorry about that, yoi." Marco spoke sheepishly and squeezed Sabo's hand a bit tighter as the blond gave him a widening smile.
"It's okay, Beaky…I know I still surprise you every now and then…it's what keeps relationships fun after all~"
"So a dark skinned kid that sits behind you in class and doesn't show himself decided to play hooky, so what?" Izou never meant to sound condescending, but his voice always seemed to come out that way.
Luckily Sabo had known the man long enough to not care about it.
"I was just curious is all…he rushed by us really fast as we came back from eating lunch with you two. His stuff was still there before we left for Atmos' show and tell…I wonder if he came to get it himself or if he sent someone to get it…"
Marco could see Izou's skeptical look in the rear view and gave a silent laugh. At least the phoenix wasn't the only one to think that that wasn't the ONLY reason Sabo was interested in the strange kid.
"Come on, Googles. You and I both know that isn't the only reason, yoi." Marco smiled as he looked over at Sabo with a soft smile, softening his stare as the younger blond flushed darker.
"Hablaba Español…" His voice was quiet but slow enough that Marco could actually catch all of the words and understand them this time.
"Really?!" It wasn't very rare for there to be bilingual students at Grand Line but Spanish wasn't a particularly common language there…and Pops always told him and Sabo when there were any new Spanish speakers. Simply so Sabo could make some more friends that he could speak to in the rapid fire language.
So why didn't Pops tell them about this one? When he only started at the school last year?
"Are you sure it was Español? Pops would have told us if there was another speaker, yoi."
"Maybe he didn't know…Marco…he answered Ms. Dadan with aquí. It sounded a bit off but I know Spanish when I hear it…"
Marco couldn't argue with that, it was a pretty convincing logic jump right there.
"Even though I can't speak a lick of Spanish, it seems pretty true to me!" Thatch was smiling wide from his location leaning on Izou's shoulder.
Sabo laughed lightly before he started fiddling with Marco's captive fingers, a habit he developed to stop his nervous nail biting. The older blond just let him be, he knew the younger would speak up when he collected his thoughts.
They were a few minutes from home when Sabo fully put together what he was trying to say.
"Do you think…maybe…podría hablar con él mañana?" it was unlike the Magical Boy to be so reserved when it came to talking with new people, but as a self-taught Spanish speaker, he always worried about speaking to people that knew the language as well as he did.
"I don't see why you shouldn't talk to him tomorrow, yoi. He was very quiet in class; maybe he's just worried about his accent?" Marco turned into the lush neighborhood and frowned when he saw Mr. Sakazuki out in his yard again. He had nothing against one of the best ex-heroes in the city, but that man did NOT like his family.
Marco, Izou, Thatch, and Sabo all stared out of the car window at the Red Dog, making sure that he wouldn't send a ball of lava at the pretty corvette again. Izou was barely able to stop it last time…
"Yeah I think I'll talk to him tomorrow! Maybe a friend is all he needs to stop covering up his whole body…I wonder if there are bad scars and that's why he doesn't show his body…or a deformity of some kind…oh…perhaps he's hiding a tattoo from the administrators…or even…"
The blond hero couldn't help the wide smile that stretched from ear to ear as he listened to his boyfriend theorize about the strange kid in class.
Pulling up to the large garage that already had a few motorcycles parked in it, he tugged on Sabo's hand a bit to get him moving, then they both exited the car, not waiting for Izou and Thatch in the back.
Sabo kept on talking all the way in to the house, through taking off his shoes and his coat, and even as he greeted the rest of the family.
It was nice to see him so enthused about something not related to their extracurricular lives again.
"Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy, if it isn't my favorite older brother and his boyfriend! Whatcha talkin' about?!" Marco had to stop admiring his boyfriend when his youngest sibling, his only sister, tackled him from the side.
"What are you doing squirt. You stopped being small enough to jump on me when you hit thirteen, yoi." The blond forced out, wheezing as the little monkey climbed her way up to sit on his tall shoulders.
"Nonsense, you are the great and powerful PHOENIX! You can handle a little girl sitting on your shoulders, right 'Bo?"
Haruta the little shit was smiling widely down at the matching grin on the Magical Boy's face. Of course Sabo would be on the girl's side, he was ALWAYS on her side dammit.
"Of course, he works out enough that he should be able to hold you no problem, Haruta…" the girl smiled even wider and hugged around Marco's head to lean down and high five his TRAITOR boyfriend, when Sabo continued speaking.
"But I do think the jumping on could be toned down a bit, he ain't getting any younger ya know."
His little sister burst out laughing at that add on, and Marco just glared at his once thoughtful and loving boyfriend, and did nothing to stop Haruta from falling off of his shoulders. It wouldn't hurt her anyway, she'd just phase through the floor.
But Sabo being the goody goody that he was, caught her and gave her a hug as he swung her around, both giggling uncontrollably.
"I don't even know why I love you two." Marco groaned, slinking his way over to the kitchen where the rest of the family was pre-making some dinner before Pops got home.
"Figured it was you, Marco, we could hear Haruta and Sabo conspiring from here!" Rakuyo was smirking and looking right at him as he chopped up vegetable without watching what he was doing.
"Careful, brother, you're not me. You can't regenerate if you chop off a finger, yoi."
"Nonsense! I have been chopping vegetables so long that I get close to my skin but not once do I touch them! My ability is beyond measure!" Rakuyo was smiling so wide and being so over dramatic that Marco couldn't stop the chuckle escaping his mouth.
His siblings were all so ridiculous.
"MARCO YOU LOCKED US IN THE CAR! NAMUR SAW US ON HIS WAY IN AND YOU BETTER BE LUCKY HE HAD THE EXTRA KEY!"
The late afternoon passed rather quickly without any big incidents. Thatch had chased him around the house a bit for locking him and Izou in the car, but the hero knew his brother wasn't too upset. He got some quality time with his boyfriend without prying siblings around. And that was always a good thing in this house.
Sabo's father called his cellphone at some point, asking if the blond was ever going to be a normal heir for once or if he should just give the heirship to Stelly. Who was a perfectly normal child and didn't have any delusions of being some sort of protector of the common people.
However Sabo had long since figured out that by putting his phone on the table and ignoring Outlook the third, Haruta could scare the man away with her loud talking of various explosive devices she made today; which had a separate purpose as a conversation piece with Marco, who always enjoyed her attempts at making bombs, because he was always the one who had to detonate it.
Regeneration as an ability had a dual purpose of becoming the test dummy for all dangerous experiments and other such things.
Pops got home in the middle of Sabo and Marco cuddling on the couch with Haruta giving them stank looks while tinkering with a small explosive.
Normal things.
It wasn't Marco's fault that Sabo like cuddling with him more than picking on him with his little sister. No matter how much Sabo adored Haruta.
Dinner was a slightly more subdued affair, only seven siblings were home plus Sabo, so instead of the normal boisterous mess it was more like the family dinner portrayed on TV.
Well until Marco decided to bring up Sabo's new inquiry to Pops.
"Hey Pops…"
The slightly larger than human man looked up from his mashed potatoes to smile at his son, eyes twinkling as his gaze strayed to the two blonds' clasped hands.
"What is it, son?"
"Do-what do you know about a student named Ace, yoi?" Marco hesitated briefly, mostly because he was trying to decide how to phrase his question.
Sabo tightened his grip on the older blond's hand when Pops' head snapped to look at them both more closely. Marco hadn't seen Pops look that serious since the last time he was considered as an active duty hero, which was a long long time ago.
"Why are you asking, Marco?"
Oh wow. It had to be something important, Pops never used anything besides an endearment unless one of them had done something bad or it was something grim.
"Oh, um, well, it's…" Marco was so not used to serious Pops, he just wasn't like that. He was a fun-loving parent, ever since they were adopted, Pops tried to always be caring.
So it wasn't a surprise that the blond hero was stuttering and his siblings were looking at the whole exchange with wide eyes.
"He's asking for me, Pops."
Marco swung his head to the side, looking at the scarred side of his boyfriend's face in surprise. No one ever wanted to be the center of serious Pops' attention, but here's Sabo. Doing it anyway.
"Well then why do you want to know, Sabo?"
Pops had the foresight to add a little more warmth into his words and to slacken his serious face, no longer the scary ex-hero, but once again their loving father.
"I was just curious about him…he left class in a rush after lunch and he never came back for last class, and he answered roll call in a different language, and he's always covered from head to toe, and he only joined the school last year, and-"
Sabo was rambling again so Marco held his hand a bit tighter, smiling as Pops smiled, his mustache raising as he laughed loudly, cutting the younger blond off mid-rant.
"Gurararara! Of course he caught your interest, son. He's an interesting student, that's for sure."
Both blonds' face lit up with bright wide smiles and it was an infectious gesture that spread to everyone around the table, Haruta in particular grabbing Sabo's other hand and giggling.
"So you'll tell us about him, yoi?"
"Gurarara! Of course not!" Pops boomed, and Sabo's face fell horribly, but the large smile on the old man's face meant that he didn't mean it in the way it sounded.
"But-"
"Son." Sabo stopped immediately, cheeks flushing at the word. The younger didn't have an affectionate family, so he reveled in Marco's, loving that they accepted him so readily and loved him as much as they loved their brother/son.
"Your curiosity is peaked. But that's because you like mysteries. Would you feel truly satisfied if you found out the answers to your questions from me? Or would you rather discover them for yourself?"
Marco's boyfriend pulled his head back suddenly, blinking rapidly as he looked at Pops. A tilt to the head was the indicator for him to smile widely, his boyfriend really hadn't thought of that had he. Adorable.
Sabo opened his mouth but nothing came out as his eyebrows furrowed and he turned his gaze to Haruta, who was smiling up at him as if nothing had changed.
Finally he just slumped back into his chair and dropped his head on Marco's shoulder, hiding his face in the juncture of his neck.
"¿Por qué no pensé en eso? (Why didn't I think about that?)" He mumbled into his neck, sending a shiver down Marco's spine but only making his smile widen some more.
"Gurarara!"
Marco could feel Sabo's face getting warmer and he chuckled along with his father, using the hand not holding his boyfriend's to run his fingers through the shaggy blond hair.
Suddenly Pops stopped laughing and once again gave them a semi-serious look, making Marco return the look with similar seriousness.
"I will tell you something though." Sabo untucked his head and looked over at Pops after that, face still pink but his eyes just as serious as Marco's.
"That student has been through a lot. He's also not used to social interaction, so be cautious of how you approach him and your questions." Pops was smiling gently and both blonds nodded at that, nice to have something to go on for an interaction tomorrow.
"Alright, so who can tell me the best story about their day? Gurarara!"
Dinner went on as usual from there, all the kids trying to one up the other on who did the most ridiculous thing that day. Unsurprisingly, Haruta won this time with a story about one of the girls in her middle school class making fun of one of the quieter kids so she stuck a small stink bomb under her chair.
She smelt like a dumpster all day and every single one of her brothers gave her a high five, and Pops gave her a warm hug.
Rakuyo and Thatch both fought to get Pops to eat more than just mashed potatoes and corn, but it was a hard battle. With the promise of one of the finer bottles of booze he consented to eat some more of the meat and a pile of broccoli with cheese and bacon.
Marco and Sabo made their way to the elder's room, both nursing full stomachs and giving the family a short goodbye, and telling them their plan on going out on a short patrol before bed.
Sabo didn't even bother to tell his parents that he was going to stay over at the Newgate's tonight, as he never did during the school year. His biological parents didn't really care, as long as he maintained high grades and did nothing to "sully" his brother's name while he was off risking his life for rabble.
They would never bother to say anything negative about the Newgate family, knowing that Pops took all those insults seriously and would rain down some serious pain if he ever found out. Which he would because Marco would tell him. He was a good boyfriend like that.
"Ugh…Thatch and Rakuyo really outdid it this time. Though I kinda wish someone knew how to make desserts…I could use some chocolate right now dammit!" Sabo complained as he plopped himself on the large king sized bed in Marco's very blue room.
Said elder smiled in response before he walked over to his boyfriend and lay right on top of him. The chuckles that left Sabo's mouth in breathy bursts made Marco continue on with his shenanigans, licking the back of his boyfriend's neck.
But the younger was never one to just let Marco do what he wanted, so he flipped them around. Marco was on his back on the bed, looking up to Sabo's mischievous blue eyes, and let out his own laugh when the Magical Boy leaned down for a kiss, his hands sliding up the firm chest as he did.
They shared some short kisses, never leaving their lips together long, but enjoying the feeling of being so close after sitting so far away in classes for the day.
Finally as the sun was fully set, Sabo placed his head over Marco's chest and just closed his eyes, humming quietly to a song he used to hear a lot as a child.
It was such a peaceful moment that Marco never wanted to end, but Sabo would beat himself up if they didn't patrol tonight. The first day of the school year always brought the villains out for some reason, obviously them thinking that the school-aged heroes and Magical Children would be too tired.
Not Phoenix and Blue Gentleman.
They barely ever took a night off, only when Marco's brothers could cover them would they even consider taking some down time; which is generally only when they want to go on a normal date instead of a powered one.
"Alright, love. We need to get ready to go out if we still plan on going out on patrol, yoi."
Sabo "mmm"-ed slightly, lifting his head and pressing his lips to Marco's clavicle then another to his lips, smile dancing on his face as he let this one get a little deeper.
He wrapped his arms around Sabo's back, lifting himself up a little with sheer abdominal muscles, prying open the other's mouth so their tongues could meet.
The moan the younger blond let out didn't even reach the air as Marco swallowed it down greedily, pressing in closer and moving his hands lower.
Unfortunately it didn't get much farther, Sabo interrupting the intimate atmosphere with a laugh and sliding his top hat pin from out of his collar.
Blue eyes glinted as Sabo held the pin in his hand, planting a kiss on the corner of Marco's mouth, he spoke quietly.
"From the blue of the night, I am the Protector."
Marco turned his head away from his boyfriend as the bright light enveloped him and he sighed, covering his eyes with his hand the brighter it got.
Damn responsibilities.
He always wondered what happened to Sabo while he was in the cocoon of bright light, his boyfriend never wanted to tell him. Maybe it involved being naked. Sabo was always shy when it came to his body, despite Marco's many assurances.
Oh well.
As the light started to dim, Marco made his way to his closet, tapping the handle in a specific rhythm to open the compartment with his suit.
"Blue Gentleman." Was whispered quietly from by the bed and the blond threw a smile over his shoulder at his newly transformed boyfriend.
The ruffles and the leggings always made his mouth water, but he focused on getting to his super suit and changing as quickly as possible.
"You know it's kind of unfair that you don't have to worry about cleaning and putting your costume anywhere secure because your magical device does it all for you. Hell you don't even have to take time to change, yoi."
Sabo, Blue Gentleman, laughed loudly as Marco got into his suit as fast as possible, taking care that the durable material fell all the right way to protect his body.
As he carefully grabbed his mask off of his tall shelf, Marco let his tail feather sprout out of his tailbone, smiling at the freeing feeling. Keeping his phoenix nature inside all the time was stressful, and he could only be glad that his family didn't mind that he spent weekends mostly as the bird. Or part of the bird, depending on his mood.
Once he was all put together, no longer Marco Newgate but the superhero Phoenix, he smiled at his boyfriend, his partner, and held out his hand.
Blue Gentleman returned the smile, white teeth proudly shown as his gloved hand slipped into Phoenix's bare one.
The glass French doors that lead to his personal porch opened automatically as always and the two protectors of the city stepped out smoothly.
Phoenix breathed in the cool night air and smirked over at his boyfriend, flicking his arms into his burning blue wings, cackling as Blue frowned.
"I'll race ya around the city, yoi."
The frown transformed into a smirk that matched his normal personality in his top hatted form and Phoenix rustled a little at what that visage did to his body.
"You think you can win?"
"I'm Phoenix, love. You think you can win?"
"I know I can, dear."
"Oh it's on, Ruffles."
And the Magical Boy cheated by pushing Phoenix back and jumping off of the porch, laughing maniacally as he headed towards the normal villain haunts.
He loved that boy to death, but oh was it on!
TBC
*For your convenience there is a hastily drawn up class schedule and current seat arrangement on my tumblr~ thatonefanficwriternooneknows :P
** Caldo verde is a popular green soup in Portuguese cuisine, traditionally made with potatoes, kale (sometimes substituted with collard greens), olive oil, and salt (Rouge likes to throw in ham hock for Ace's lunch for a little more protein)
The Portuguese was shamelessly from Google Translate then edited the lovely anadiangelo! THE SPANISH TRANSLATIONS ARE JUST SHAMELESSLY FROM GOOGLE TRANSLATE, IF YOU HAVE ANY CORRECTIONS PLEASE MESSAGE ME ON TUMBLR!
HAHAHAHAHA!
So would anyone believe me if I said that this was supposed to stay at 5k? I tried to stop it at 6, BUT SOMEONE NAMED SETSU SAID IT SOUNDED STILTED SO I SAID FUCK IT AND ENDED UP ALMOST 3K MORE THAN THAT!
Happy it's been a while? Maybe because I waited 2 months to give y'all a continuation?
Whatever man~ I don't even care anymore~
I bothered the crap out of Setsu about this chapter CAUSE I WORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING, so let me know what you think alright?
See ya next time~