The Beginnings of a Future Pirate King

Chapter 21: Brotherhood and Gunshots

Chapter 21: Brotherhood and Gunshots

Ace had woken up early that morning with dozens thoughts racing through his head. He, Sabo, and Luffy had all decided that they were going to share the bed that Luffy originally had to himself. Ace looked towards his sleeping friends and knew that out of all the people in the world, the two people right there beside him could be trusted to their cores. Now, Ace was not normally one to show his affections for others, but he felt he absolutely had to show them the trust he put in each of them. And, after thinking about it for days on end, he had come up with a way. Ace slowly crept out of bed and tried to quietly leave the cabin, hoping since it was still dark out that everyone was asleep. Thankfully, he could tell by how quiet the ship was that no one was up yet. Using the stealth he had learned while sneaking up on animals bigger than himself, he made his way to the galley.

He looked around the large kitchen, thankful that the cooks kept the place clean. Not at all like Dadan, who shuddered at the mere mention of the words 'clean' and 'organized'. He climbed up on the counters, opening cupboard door after cupboard door in search of something in particular. Each time he opened a door, he would close it just as quietly, hoping that no one heard the soft squeak the hinges sometimes made. Opening a door closer to the corner of the kitchen, he finally found what he had been looking for: a bottle of sake.

Grabbing it excitedly, he gently put it down on the counter and hopped down. He smiled widely looking at the drink; this was exactly what he needed. Now if he could just find something to drink from, everything would be perfect. After rifling through several drawers nearby, he found 3 red sake sakazuki practically begging him to take them. Seeing his plan come together made the boy even more excited. His smile practically split his face. Pocketing the dishes and holding the bottle tight, he raced back to the room to put his plan into action.

Thatch watched from the shadows his brow raised. He had woken up early, as per his usual routine, to plan out the crew's meals for the day, only to find a 10 year old child stealing a bottle of sake from his kitchen. The kid had guts to steal from the chef of the Whitebeard pirates, he'd give him that. He could have easily stepped out from his observation point and stopped Ace, of course, but his curiosity as to why a child wanted a bottle of booze outweighed his anger. As such, he decided to simply wait and see how things went. Marco, of course, wasn't going to be told anything. An angry Marco was the last thing he needed. An overprotective brother was never a good thing, especially if somebody his little brother liked to associate was misbehaving with sake. No, it would be best to just wait this out and see what happened for himself.

It was a bit less than an hour later, Luffy and Sabo woke up. As they did, they saw Ace sitting by the door a huge grin on his face.

"What's with that look? It's too early for your craziness!" Sabo sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"I was planning on doing this on the next island, but I can't wait. Luffy, get up or you'll miss something good!" Ace said and called to the little boy who shot up looking around excitedly.

"Izzit a new type of food?" he asked searching excitedly around him, making Sabo laugh.

"Nope, something better," Ace grinned and placed the three cups in a circle in front of him. Luffy jumped off the bed and sat in front of a cup while Sabo looked at the other in confusion.

"Did you know that when men drink together they become brothers?" Ace smiled, carefully pouring the sake in the three cups so as not to spill any.

"Brothers?' Luffy asked in wonder.

"Mnn."He responded with a smile. "From today on we shall now be called brothers!" Ace said, picking up his cup and toasting it with Luffy and Sabo. The three chugged it down quickly, ignoring the sudden burning through their throats.