[ON HIATUS] Bounded (Ghost!Ace x Reader) AU

Annoyed with Attention

You, Marco, and Ace sat with Luffy and the others for lunch. Just like earlier that day, girls in the cafeteria began to murmur about Ace's arrival. You can't say that it didn't make you jealous when they would bat their eyelashes at him or give a flirtatious wink, but it felt wrong to suddenly feel possessive of him when he has no idea who you even were.

"(Name)-ya, you're murdering your cup." Law remarked and pointed at your hand.

You smile awkwardly and eased your grip. "Sorry, I was just thinking of something." You said.

The others weren't convinced but they didn't push the topic further either. Luffy, of course, was too busy stuffing his face to notice the girls walking towards their table. Law couldn't care any less since he had the same problem as Ace when he had first enrolled into the school.

You sat quietly in your seat and tried to ignore the girls. One of them had long pink hair and purple eyes; the other had green hair and yellow eyes. You immediately recognized the two as Law's classmates and sometimes see them talking to him during free time.

Ace looked up from his lunch and stared at them. The pink haired girl was eating a slice of pizza and staring back at him.

"So you're the new student everyone was talking about?" She asked with a smirk. "Not gonna lie but you're pretty hot."

You choke on water and hurriedly turned away. "Well she knows how to be bluntly honest." You thought.

Ace laughed and itched his cheek, "Eh, you think so? Thanks, I guess."

Marco observed them quietly before looking at you in slight concern. "(Name), are you alright-yoi?" He asked and rubbed your back as you tried to stop coughing.

"Bonney-ya, Monet-ya, don't bother us while we're eating." Law spoke up, a hint of annoyance in his voice as he sent the two a light glare.

Bonney huffed and stuck her tongue out at him like a child would. However Law didn't seem to mind like he was already used to this, and you were absolute certain he is from the way he was looking at her. And the look he was giving wasn't at all friendly either.

Meanwhile, Monet simply just ignored Law altogether and started draping herself over Ace like a blanket. A blanket with massive boobs that were pressing against his back!

Apparently Ace had noticed this and began to blush a light pink color on his cheeks. He looked up at Monet who was peering at his face with an amorous smirk.

"Um, mind getting off me?"

The ravenette then looked the other way and caught you staring at him. You didn't want to seem jealous or gawking at him, so you quickly averted your gaze to your tray.

Not long afterwards, the bell had signaled the end of the day's lunch break, something Luffy began to whine about. So as Nami and Usopp scolded him for being such a greedy glutton, you tried engaging in a conversation with Marco on your way to your next class.

As much as you hated to admit it, but Bonney and Monet constantly hugging Ace's arms was beginning to irk you. And as Marco noticed the frown on your face when you glanced at the two girls trying to get his attention, he tried his best to keep your focus away from the trio as much as possible.

You sighed as the girls said goodbye to Ace and left for their classroom, but not until overhearing them ask him out later. But even though Ace rejected the offer to go, they seemed to be very persistent and said that they'd wait for him outside of the school gates after class.

"So much for that..." You murmured to yourself dejectedly.

"So much for what?" Luffy asked and leaned closer to your table, his naive brown eyes blinking up at you in question.

Not wanting to make the ever-happy boy worry over you for something to trivial, you smiled and shook your head. Besides, this was your problem and not his.

Even if Ace didn't remember you, you were going to make the most of the time you spend together with him. Who knows, maybe Marco would even consider helping you out with such a selfish request. And maybe, just maybe, Ace would get some of his memories back.

Tomorrow is another day.