LET ME PROTECT YOU [Ace x fem reader]

Chapter 4 // The D in Portgas D. Ace stands for sneaky

As the first rays of sun hits your face, you finish your patrol with your newly acquired companion. Figuring you can't just let Ace sleep outside in the forest, you brought him to Kariko with you. Since you're not sure how the other townspeople will react you both decided it's best to stay low and hide Ace for now, which is why you are standing in front of one of the side entrances to the village. You and Mila have a room alone at the community house where Ace can stay hidden for the night, if you can manage to get him there. You sneakily walk past the entrance and guide Ace through the small alleys in between the houses.

[Now for a short description of y/n's hometown Wikipedia style (u can skip this if u don't care lol)]

Even though Kariko is the largest town on the island, it's still not comparable in size to the other cities on the main trading route islands. With a population of around 7000 kariko is a port town with their main source of income coming from visiting merchants and sailors. The people here are also mainly merchants and lower middle-class, the exception being a few noble families from the main Islands and of course the homeless and orphans.
Since the Island is so central and can't afford to pay the heavenly tribute to get marine protection it is regularly attacked by different pirate groups traveling by. Which is why the town needs its own people to protect it that the townspeople are willingly funding at the community house. That's how y/n and Mila have survived for so long.

[story continues here:]

"It is still pretty early in the morning so I don't think anyone will be outside right now, except for a few guards and maybe some drunkards," you say to ace beside you.

"It's not gonna be a problem anyways," he says smirking. "I'm sneaky," he winks and points a finger gun at you. You raise an eyebrow at him, questioning if what he did was sarcastic or not... At this point you got no idea.

"Where is your house by the way?" he asks putting away his finger gun.

"I live at the town's community house, so it's really central," you answer. "Me and my sister have a room at the second floor."

"You have a sister?" his eyes light up with curiosity. "What's her name?"

"Mila," you smile. "She is such a sweetheart, I love her so much," you feel warmer just thinking about her. "But she isn't exactly my sister, not by blood at least, but our family bond is strong."

"I get you. I have brothers too," he says, losing himself in his thoughts for a while. "We shared drinks together and made a promise, so it basically makes us real brothers."

"Yea! That's exactly how I feel about Mila!" You nod in agreement. "What's their names?"

"My youngest brother is Luffy. Monkey D. Luffy."

"That makes you Monkey D. Ace?" you raise an eyebrow at him.

He lets out a chuckle and shakes his head. "No no, I'm Portgas D. Ace."

"Well, nice to meet you Portgas D. Ace," You stop your trail and reach out your hand to him, exaggerating all your movements. "I am y/n l/n."

He excitingly grabs your hand and shakes it a bit rougher than you thought he would, causing you to lose your balance a bit. "The honor is mine y/n l/n!" he grins.

Noticing you're out of balance Ace's quickly stops and grabs you by your shoulder. "Oops, my bad," he chuckles.

You jokingly roll your eyes at him, looking away only for a second, when you see him confidently walking down the wrong alley. He stumbles backwards as you grab him by his hat around the neck and point your finger gun in the right direction making him smirk.