Luffy was five when he realized that Makino was struggling with money to feed him. While his grandfather did send money and letters to check on the boy, he clearly didn't acknowledge that his grandson was a bottomless pit that came directly from hell. So, his money only allowed him three meals a day instead of five, and Makino had to use her own money to keep Luffy satisfied.
Which also meant that she had to starve herself some days for the boy, and Luffy hated that. He didn't like seeing people he cared about sacrifice themselves for his sake.
So, with little effort, he learned how to lower his daily five meals to three like the average humans. But that didn't last long before he one day snapped and bit almost anything that resembled meat. And just like that, they were back to the old habits.
That was the case until a ship docked on the coast of the Foosha village.
"Shanks, I wanna know something!"
Shanks eyed the boy with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile as he drank his cup of beer. The room quieted down, all paying attention to the kid they came to know and love.
"If I kill my grandfather, will I be able to get all of his money?"
Shanks choked on his drink, and the red-haired pirates had to call a doctor.
Luffy felt regret the moment the ship left; he buried his face in the large straw hat and wiped his tears with the back of his hands. He was a big boy, big boys don't cry.
He should've asked more about pirates instead of just figuring out ways to rob his grandfather.
Hmph!
Well... whatever! He will be the pirate king with his newly acquired rubber power!
Speaking of rubber...
Can he stretch his hands all the way to his grandfather's wallet in the GrandLine?
"Why did you give him the straw hat, though?"
Shanks smiled and turned towards the tiny dot that was once the island they spent a year on.
"He said the same thing Captain Roger did."
"That red-haired brat corrupted you. You can't be a pirate after what I've done!"
Luffy eyed his grandfather, who lifted him like a stray puppy as they made their way to the mountain. He said he would never catch sight of Makino again, this old bastard.
"Why is that, grandpa?"
Garp picked his nose with his hands and shrugged nonchalantly. "I had already written you and some other brats under my will. If I ever die, you'll inherit my wealth."
Luffy felt his heart drop to his knees, a decade of despair and loneliness pulsing inside his chest, and he eyed the old man like he was an illusion. Pinching his cheek hard proved him wrong though. He wrapped his rubbery limbs around a tree and pulled it toward his grandpa.
It didn't matter if it hit him too, Luffy can't feel pain, anyway. He eyed the fall of the tree with anticipation, but his hopes were crushed once he dodged it.
The old man turned his head toward the tree and pulled Luffy closer to his arms. "Hmm... monkeys here sure are wild."
He barked a laugh and Luffy wanted to cry.
Ace eyed the new brat with curious eyes as he hid between the woods. Gramps claimed the brat as his grandson, which meant that he is Ace's brother in some way, but he didn't care about that. Kids are irritating, troubling, and annoying. He didn't want to deal with them.
However, when he noticed how the boy kept throwing sharp objects at his gramps, and the way the man accidentally avoided them obliviously while making his way to Dadan's hut, he realized that something is wrong with this kid.
Ace then decided that he didn't hate the boy, he just disliked him to some extent.
"Being alone and hungry is more painful than getting hurt!"
Sabo hates eating with his brothers.
Don't get him wrong, he treasures his brothers and loves them. Heck, he will even surrender and sacrifice himself for their sake without a second thought. But when it comes to food, those two bastards will eat everything, including the grass sometimes.
At least Ace had some restraints and showed Sabo enough empathy to stay away from his food.
Luffy didn't. He just didn't care. That was the type of guy he is.
Sabo finds himself wondering sometimes... If Luffy were to choose between unlimited meat and his brothers, what would be his choice?
Luffy tucked his lips to the side and sweated as he quirked his eyebrows.
"I would choose my big brothers, obviously!"
He started whistling.
Sabo wanted to bury himself alive.
Garp wonders why the letters he received smell weird.
Today was their training day, Garp will arrive soon, and Ace couldn't help but notice how Luffy's pockets were filled with knives and a round green thing that resembled a... bomb?!
"What are you doing?" Sabo questioned the boy who placed spikes in the forest.
Luffy side-eyed him and shrugged.
"Business."
This forest is dangerous, was Garp's first thought as he set foot in the mountain. It was filled with spikes, knives randomly thrown at him, bombs hidden underneath the ground, and more.
He smirked to himself.
If the monkeys were the ones who did this, he would make sure to visit the Amazon and bring more of them here. This way, his three grandsons will learn how to avoid traps and become strong enough to be fair marines.
But the question is... How did the forest's monkeys get their hands on such weapons?
The sun shined and adorned its rays on his youngest grandson's face. The face that was filled with bandages and bruises.
Picking his nose, he decides that it was just a coincidence. The forest was close to the Gray Terminal, and the monkeys, being one of the most intelligent animals, probably got their hands on them somehow.
Luffy always wondered how his grandpa somehow miraculously avoided his attacks. But he doesn't link them to Luffy, to his relief, nor does he acknowledge the assassination attempts because he always avoid them somehow by luck.
Luffy knew that killing his grandpa in his sleep would've made things simpler, but the man was literally made out of steel. Yesterday, he tried to choke him while he's snoring, but the man laid on his stomach the moment he got closer. Today, he poisoned his grandpa's piece of meat with rat's spray, but a monkey came and stole it.
The straw-hatted boy realized then that luck was against him, but he didn't care.
The future king of the pirates shouldn't be defeated by such a simple task.
"What do you need that for?
"Stupid Sabo! Just write what I'm about to tell you word by word."
"If gramps catches us, I will immediately snitch on you. It's not my fault you can't read or write."
"Hey, that's not manly!"
'dear grandp— garp
please buy me a cockroach spray.
It's me by the way, i am dadan. dadan is the one who wrote this letter, not the future king of the pirates luffy'
Garp squinted his eyes at the messed-up scribbles in the letter, boomed a laugh, and took out his wallet.
The boys need to defeat cockroaches on their own, so he would've refused. But since it's Dadan who's asking him, then sure. The woman already did so much for him, he owes her that much.
He did wonder though why her handwriting got worse, but didn't think much of it. The woman got old, so that's to be expected.
"H-hey, that smell..." His subordinate shivered behind him as he covered his mouth and nose with his uniform. "That's the smell of the world's most poisonous mushroom. It's coming from that letter! If you smell it, you will die, sir!"
Garp raised an eyebrow and punched the marine.
Was he crazy? Perhaps mentally challenged.
Dadan, Magra, Ace, and Sabo hid as they watched Luffy rub the letter with Amanita phalloides, one of the most dangerous mushrooms in the mountain.
"Makino told me he's been doing that before sending Garp letters ever since he turned five."
Ace and Sabo's heads whipped toward Dadan, and to Luffy who coated his mouth and nose with a cloth.
Sabo might've had an idea of his little brother's plans, but he will stay silent and ignorant for now. He doesn't want to ruin the fun of witnessing this after all.
Garp wondered why the marines around him fainted whenever he walked by with his precious grandson's letter in hand.
ASL brothers sat by the campfire with their grandpa, and the duo couldn't help but notice how Luffy was eyeing their old man with malicious stares filled with killing intent. How did the old fart not even notice that? Ace is sure that even the animals surrounding them ran away from how menacing it is.
Luffy threw a knife, and Garp miraculously, miraculously, avoided it as he turned his head to scratch his ass. If he didn't do that, Ace was sure his nose would be chopped off. Well, thinking about it again, this was gramps who they are talking about; there's no way he'll be harmed from such an attack.
The brothers gulped and hesitantly eyed their little, not so innocent, brother as he slouched in defeat.
He glanced at the sight of his grandpa eating and decided to finally ask the question that's been droning in his mind for a while.
"Grandpa,"
The old man hummed in acknowledgment.
"Remember when you told me you wrote your wealth to some other brats too when you die?"
Ace and Sabo blinked. Wealth?
Gramps hummed obliviously and swallowed the piece of meat along with the bones in it.
"Who are they?"
Sabo and Ace shared glances, and they both leaned forward in anticipation.
"Well, I wrote your name and Ace's at first, then I added Sabo too. Your shares are divided equally, and I would've given the rest to your father, but he's a revolutionary who goes against the government, so I can't do that."
Ace blinked.
Blinked hard.
Blinked harder.
His head whipped to the blonde, whose eyes widened largely, then to Luffy, who was busy throwing knives at Garp. Somehow that old fart miraculously evaded them. Ace's not even sure if he noticed the flying knives yet, but he didn't care about this right now.
Ace knows gramps is rich.
And if he inherited his money, he would be able to buy unlimited meat and Dawn Island! If he does so, he will name the island after himself and become famous!
The freckled boy noticed how Sabo was picking up rocks and snakes, and he decided to join him.
"You will not fight in this battle alone, little brother!"