The second installment (the sequel) to Ace of Spades is now out.
Read 'The Hanged Man' once you've finished this one.
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A rascal with a penchant for making friends with the wrong people, you were often regarded as a troublemaker by...
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Y/N -- NOW
You weren't one to keep secrets.
For starters, you completely sucked at it. Your face was generally an open book, especially to your friends who'd stuck with you since the beginning. But you were starting to feel anxious about something that didn't exist, and it was bothering you, to say the least.
Nami would probably have removed your head with a rusty icepick if you let your overactive imagination take hold of your day-to-day activities, but that itch wouldn't relent, no matter how hard you tried to suppress it. And the fact that you'd been getting weird side-eyes all day wasn't helping either.
Burrowing deeper into the scarf that Ace had been nice enough to set aside, you pressed on, your vans thudding against the cool ground, body tempted to jump into the nearest building for warmth. But you pushed on for fear of being berated by your professors.
Your first few classes had gone swimmingly, with your teachers droning on about the upcoming final exams and deadlines. But the eyes on you were ever relentless, the air just as constricting and as stifling as your first day at Grand Line, even when you traversed to your part-time; the hot, judgemental gazes narrowing on your frame as you quickly bolted to your next destination.
You only stopped when you bumped across a familiar face, expression lighting in relief before you reached out to them, asking, "Hey, do you know what's going on?"
To your dismay though, they merely turned, eyes dim with anxiousness as they murmured a quick 'sorry', seemingly avoiding contact with you despite the jokes you'd shared with them in class.
And it only got weirder when you clocked in at the cafe.
When you arrived at your shift, it became harder and harder to ignore the hushed whispers around you, especially when it became obvious that they were about you. However, you weren't going to let something as minute as that get in the way of your responsibilities.
Head buried into your apron, you ignored the heavy eyes and continued on with your duties, placing a faux smile as you took on another order. But it wasn't until a group of freshman-aged students stumbled in that the friendly disposition fell, eyes crinkling when the first boy leaned against the counter and raised a brow at your face.
He squinted at you, then gasped in surprise when something clicked.
"Hey, you're the girl who slept with Kid, aren't you?"
You lifted your head from the register, the words sinking in like an anvil before you mumbled a quick, "Excuse me?"
"Yeah, shit! Bro, come 'ere!" The first boy beckoned the second over, the two of them lifting their phones to your face, a delighted expression blooming, which only served to off-put you. "It's her!" The first laughed again, his device tilted your way so you could get a look. But all it took was a single one for you to finally feel the first few drops of dread coursing through your bloodstream, cloying and thick, and pungent with fear.
