#Admiral Sengoku

[mjrtaurus]

Unlike his relationships with most other cadets, Dragon gets along…well enough with Kuzan, though with one important caveat; he’s much too friendly with Dragon's mother. Always hanging around her when she visits the base, making ice for her drinks or showing off impressive sculptures, offering to carry her bags when she's out shopping, incredibly willing to lend an ear or a helping hand to ‘Mrs M’. None of these actions are inherently sinister but knowing full well about Kuzan's woman loving tendencies he can’t help but suspicious of the younger man's intentions (even if Kuzan isn’t by any means a home wrecker, let alone his beloved mentor's spouse). It all comes to a head when after graciously preparing and hand delivering a cup of tea to the missus and receiving a courteous thank you, Kuzan chirps back an easy ‘No Problem Mom’ much to the shock and hilariously mixed reactions of the Monkey Family.

Dragon: 😮 (he feels bad about questioning Kuzan's intentions now but has no way of apologizing because he never actually voiced them)

Garp: 😂😂 (could tell the entire time and now has blackmail material for decades worth of training sessions)

Mrs M: 🥹🥹 (incredibly touched and is about to start with Monkey D tradition of adopting random people into the family)

Kuzan: 🏃‍♂️💨 (left the room so quickly as soon as the words escaped him you question if he was even there)

SHDJDHJJD NO 🤣🤣🤣

Poor Dragon thinking Kuzan is coming on to his mom, and poor Kuzan subconsciously ingraining himself into the Monkey D. Family without realizing it until All of That happens.

Monkey D. Momma having looked at this boy from the day Garp brought him in like a scraggly feral kitten like “you need a family, come here”.

AND GARP. Oh god, Garp would be telling this shit to Sengoku immediately.

“Sen, you wanna hear what my adorable dumbass kid did today?!”

[ask-the-shichibukai]

How the Shichibukai Meeting went to Hell

(Ao3 Link)

Admiral Sengoku was a man of few words. That’s why there was only one thing he cared to say before bringing himself to open the door of the meeting room. These words are: «I deserve a raise for this shit».

Sengoku the Buddha, indeed.

Overseeing the Warlords' meetings everytime the Navy HQ had the brilliant idea of summoning them should be considered a strenuous job and as such deserving of the aforementioned raise.

It could only be compared to babysitting a bunch of overpowered hellspawn brats and being kicked in the balls at the same time. And that's only after lowering one's dignity to the point of considering the attendance of two mercenaries out of seven a success.

Sengoku took a long calming breath, staring at the door like it personally offended him: he could already hear screams and clear signs of property damage from the other side of it.

That wasn't the future he had envisioned when he was a cadet dreaming of becoming an Admiral.

Not at all.

Trying not to lose his proverbial composure, he entered the meeting room. Tsuru's understanding gaze gave him courage and hope. He valued her trustworthiness and strategic mindset, but the real reason behind his newfound hope was that she was the only one in the present company who could and would tame a hellion like Doflamingo if the need arose (and it often did). Scratch that, she and Hawkeyes, but the day he'll bother to show up at one of these MANDATORY meetings will be the day Sengoku's finally going to retire for good.

Unfortunately, today won't be that day because there were only three Warlords in the room: Sir Crocodile, the pirate empress Boa Hancock and that demon Doflamingo (damn him, why couldn't some celestial goat ever fall on his head from the clouds before one of these stupid meetings?).

They seemed to be this close to turn from screaming to devil-fruit-beating each other, unaware (or just uncaring) of the pletora of terrified and/or amused gazes on them. Tsuru's mischievous look belonging to the latter.

She even betted on the winner of that childish squabble. That traitor.

Sengoku sighed for the umpteenth time and cursed the day he let himself be persuaded to allow Doflamingo to sit next to Crocodile. It was a terrible idea and it needed an immediate rectification even if the thought made him feel like he had suddenly become a school teacher in the need of separating two misbehaving students.

The difference, he was reminded by a very high-pitched string of curses, was that these imbeciles were Warlords. Shame of society and overpowered brats, yes, but unfortunately still the best pirate assets the Marines have.

How the Mighty have fallen.

Today's topic of disagreement between the three was, apparently, a variation of the classic "who's really in charge of the Shichibukai between us" argument.

«I'm in charge here, of course! Number one - Crocodile actually lifted a finger to demonstrate his point - I'm the oldest and number two, I'm a Sir while you two are just overconfident brats» Crocodile levelled both of them with a judgemental stare, taking another exhale from his cigar. There was only one member of this group of nutjobs he was surrounded by that he respected. And that man wasn’t here and probably never would be if he had his way.

«Sir? -Boa snorted - I'm the Pirate Empress! And I'm undoubtedly the most beautiful one!»

«Fufufu! Your petty titles are so lame! It's adorable how proud both of you seem to be of them!» their claims were ridiculous. He was a Celestial Dragon for fuck's sake! Practically a God, with blue blood and all, compared to them.

The oversized flamingo stared at Boa behind his sunglasses and grinned.

 «Besides, for all your hatred for men in general, I think it irks you a little that your precious power doesn't work on us»

 «Bold claim for a stupid bird» Crocodile tried to hide his smirk feigning a cough, but it was’t very convincing.

«What the fuck are you talking about?!» Boa was fuming - literally fuming from sheer indignation- and reached over the table to take the pink-feathered man by the collar of his Hawaiian shirt and remind him of his place in the food chain. Unfortunately for her blood pressure, his grin didn't change.

«Try to say that again when you'll be a stupid block of feathered rock, you bastard!»

To the Marines' great horror, Boa actually summoned her love bow and shooted its arrows aiming straight at the smug face of Doflamingo. She really wanted to wipe that obnoxious grin from his face: he couldn't get on her nerves if he turned to stone, or at least she hoped so.

When the cloud of dust dissipated, everyone could see that half of the marines had been turned to stone, but that infuriating (now very smug) smirk was still there. To add unnecessary salt to the injury, Crocodile hadn't turned to stone, either. Just like the flamboyant cretin had predicted.

Sengoku took a look at the state of the room and his subordinates and, not for the first time that afternoon, thought:

 «I hate my life»

«I hate your life too, if it makes you feel better»

Apparently he had said that thought out loud because Crocodile had answered without even looking up from the terminal he was using to remind his subordinate to feed his dog. Never let it be said that Sir Crocodile isn't a multitasking man. The Baroque Works won't administer itself, after all.

«How- ho-how in Davy Jones's stinking locker did you do it?!»

Boa.exe stopped working from sheer indignation. She had never met men who were immune to her technique beside blind men and her beloved Luffy (she blushed at the memory and Crocodile scoffed). So how had the damn idiot and that reptile managed not to be turned to stone?!

«Oh, don't give yourself an aneurysm trying to work out why and why not. It's quite simple. You cannot be the most beautiful person in the room if I am right here! Fufufu, so it can't work on me» Doflamingo almost fell from his perch on that toy chair the Marines gave him at the look on the empress's face and then added just to rile both his colleagues up: «And Croco-boy here knows I'm right, that's why it didn't work on him either» his grin had gotten huge at this point. «Or he isn’t as straight as he wants us to believe»

Crocodile didn’t even deign that of an answer, just rolling his eyes in annoyance. Undeterred by the knowledge he was being ignored by the elder, Doflamingo spoke again.

«Hey, Crocodile, do you know why Captain Hook died? Because he used the wrong hand in the bidet, fufufufu!»

«Shut up!» Crocodile shouted at the nuisance sat next to him «Or, if you are really incapable of such a simple action, at least go find a poisonous snake to bother!»

Doflamingo opened his mouth to answer the insult, but he was interrupted by the meeting room’s door opening.

«Why is it that every time I bother to come all this way from Kuraigana Island for a supposedly important meeting everything I hear is just petty arguments?» the unmistakable eyes of the newcomer conveyed all his judgement at the childish display.

Everyone stilled at that voice so rarely heard in this room, like misbehaving children caught doing something they shouldn’t have done by their stern parent.

Dracule Mihawk had actually come to the meeting for what was maybe the first time in the world's history.

Sengoku felt the sudden urge to cry.

“My resignation letter! At last! East Blue wait for me!!” he thought, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

However, Crocodile hadn’t let himself be distracted by the situation and had tipped Doflamingo's chair with a silent snap of his hook under the table to make him lose his balance so he could kick him away in a blatant (at least to normal people) hint for Hawkeyes to sit between him and Doflamingo. There was no way he would keep suffering the pink-clad man’s presence any longer and especially no way he would keep doing it alone. If he had to suffer, then the elusive overpowered bird should too. It was only right in Crocodile's unbiased opinion.

Fortunately, Mihawk caught the not-so-subtle hint and sat between the two madmen who called themselves his friends. Doflamingo took offence at Crocodile for the way he had literally kicked him out of his chair but then he immediately calmed down thinking of all the ways he could pester both of them now.

“Oh, this meeting will be funny” he thought, perching himself on another chair. His grin sent shivers of undiluted terror down the backs of several marines.

Sengoku really regretted not having allowed Akainu to lead this meeting, but then he comforted himself remembering the new record this day represented for his reputation as the Warlords’ minder: Kuma, Jimbe and Moria entered the room at last, so now all the Seven Warlords were here.

But the universe hated him apparently because Boa Hancock was still glaring daggers at Doflamingo’s sunglasses, so his good mood couldn’t last long. In fact, a few moments later …

«Just because both you and the reptilian kingpin seem to be immune to my beauty – her eyebrow nearly twitched at that- it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work on the others!» she screeched, remembering the pink man’s previous claim of the whole group being immune to her love arrows.

“Why did she have to remember that idiot’s words now that things could finally start going according to the plan?” thought Sengoku, meeting Tsuru’s equally exasperated gaze across the table.

«Try again then, now that everyone is here. Let’s see if I’m right or not» was Doflamingo’s smug challenge. Everyone scoffed. Now, her eyebrow definitely twitched.

«Boa Hancock, you are an intellingent woman. Do not squander that by lowering yourself at the level of this imbecile’s words»

Hancock lowered the bow she had summoned at Hawkeyes’s reproachful tone. She was now ashamed to admit she did indeed raise to Doflamingo’s blatant bait, ready to show everyone how wrong that peacock was to doubt the power of her beauty.

The aforementioned peacock lost his grin at seeing his fun ruined, but then he turned toward the culprit and boldly put an arm around the swordman’s shoulders.

Men had been gutted for much less by the swordman and Doflamingo knew it.

Indeed, the king of Dressrosa found himself on the receiving end of a terrifying glare for his audacity, but the grip he had on the other's shoulder didn’t lessen.

«What’s the matter, Hawksy? Why did you stop Hancock-chan here?» now the glares digging holes at his head were two «Were you afraid that we would start thinking of you as a man capable of sexual thoughts if you hadn’t? Don’t worry, we all know the only woman in your life is Yor…Ehi!» he barely had time to complete his sentence before he had to save his sorry ass dodging the dagger the swordman had aimed at his head.

Yoru the Black Sword glinted menacingly at him from her place behind Mihawk’s chair.

«I just wanted to prevent her from making a fool of herself for your entertainment. And, if you must know, I don't care nearly enough about humankind for that» Mihawk said, rolling his eyes at the fellow Warlord's antics. «Now, take your arm off my shoulders before I remove it for you»

From the place at the other side of the swordman, Crocodile didn’t exactly burst out laughing at the hurt look on Doflamingo’s face - because he had too much style for that - but it came close. Really close.

Mihawk regretted having forfeited his usual spot at the head of the table (the furthest place from Doflamingo and Crocodile) in order to acquiesce to the latter’s request. He blamed Crocodile for that. And Sengoku, because an Admiral and a bunch of vice-admirals shouldn’t need him to babysit those idiots of his collegues. They should be able to do the job themselves if they wanted to be taken seriously as one of the three reigning powers.

So he turned the full power of his disappointment on Sengoku by fixing his unblinking eyes straight on his face.

«Was there a real reason why you wasted my afternoon with this pointless summon or can I leave?» he said without preamble as usual, voicing the thoughts of almost every person in the room.

When he didn’t hear any answer because the Fleet Admiral was busy saving the life of some nameless marine tangled in the proverbial web of Doflamingo’s strings, Mihawk finally declared the meeting a waste of his time. So, he put his feet on the table (to Crocodile’s horror) and lowered his hat over his face to shield his eyes from the room’s lights.

A nap would surely be a more productive way to spend his afternoon than whatever this circus is going to be. If they actually had someone they needed him to kill they could say that to him later. He didn’t care anyway.

Sengoku had finally managed to save that poor man’s life when he saw that even the swordman had decided to disrespect him by taking his nap there in the meeting room.

At that last slap to his pride, Sengoku the Buddha finally snapped.

«I had summoned you bunch of pirate scum to discuss the details of an hypotetical attack against the emperor Red-haired Shanks, not to sleep or try to kill my men!» he screamed and oh how freeing that feeling was.

A disturbing silence fell in the room, only broken by Doflamingo’s obnoxious laughter and the sound of Mihawk’s hat falling to the ground. Sengoku felt validated by that.

Then, something threatened to shatter his newfound enthusiasm: a surprisingly high-pitched shout from Moria.

«What?! Have you finally gone senile in your old age, Admiral?!»

Enthusiasm.

A deep inhale.

One thing after another.

«Very well, given that nobody has voiced any objection to the idea, the plan is this … »

[brainfuzzz]

Becoming A Pirate Ch. 1 "I Promise."

AU where the East, South, West, and Noth Blue is land masses all connected by the Grand Line. Luffy goes to a Naval Academy to follow in Shank's footsteps with the goal to become the pirate king. Crocodile and Dragon are married, Whitebeard is Crocodile's dad/Luffy's grandpop. Shakky is a warlord so that Boa can be a student. Robin and Franky are going to be the same age as the others. Happier timeline in AU.

This was 100% inspired by the noodle commercial.

Having the ability to sleep through virtually anything is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a trait shared by his father and grandfather that was unfortunately inherited down to Luffy. In his 17 years of life, he’s discovered many sounds that fail to wake him from his deep slumber: the wind, heavy thunderstorms, distant gun shots, loud vehicles speeding past his house, his parents yelling after losing him at the park, his grandpa yelling after losing him on a hike, his brothers yelling after losing him on a different hike, and pretty much all public transportation. His alarm, unfortunately, is also among these sounds. So, on the one day that Luffy had actually planned on getting up early… he sleeps in. 

            Luffy doesn’t jump out of bed, but rather flings himself from the mattress. Unfortunately, he does this headfirst, so instead of potentially landing on his feet, he instead falls face first onto the hardwood floor. He hits hard causing the small house to shake.

            “What was that?” His dad calls from downstairs.

            Luffy fumbles towards his nightstand for his phone. It’s nearly 7:30. He runs an aggravated hand through his messy hair and shouts, “Nothing!”

            In a mad dash to get ready, he scrambles to his dresser and grabs his brand new uniform that his pa had neatly laid out the night before. He tugs the stiff itchy fabric over his head while simultaneously shoving legs into perfectly ironed pants. Once clothed he pauses to glance at his reflection in the cracked full body mirror hanging on the closet door. His uniform is already covered in wrinkles thanks to his hurry to get dressed, but other than that it’s fine. Afterall, Luffy has never been one to care about wrinkles. His pa on the other hand might strangle him. The uniform itself is a near copy of the marine uniform except on the back it has NA in large blue letters. Luffy can’t help but wrinkle his nose at the thought of wearing a marine uniform, but eventually he lets it go and crosses over to his nightstand to pick up his straw hat. He stares at it for a long moment, letting distant memories echo in his mind. He gives a small grin and places it on his head.

            The floorboards on the stairs creak under his feet until he skips the last two steps, hopping to the first floor. He takes an immediate right into the kitchen where Dragon is setting a large plate of bacon on the table that is already piled with food.

            Dragon glances up at Luffy and frowns with an arched brow, “How did you already wrinkle it? Your pa isn’t going to be happy.”

            “I tried keeping it pressed but,” Before he’s even fully seated at the table, Luffy is stuffing his face. When he swallows his large bite he says, “I woke up late.”

            Dragon chuckles with the shake of his head while leaning against the small island separating the dining room and the kitchen. “You have less than 30 minutes to make it there you know? If you’re lucky your pa will get up soon and take you.”

            Luffy swallows another large mouthful of eggs, bacon, and bread, “No thanks. I don’t wanna be the only one being dropped off by his parents.”

            Dragon rolls his eyes with a shrug and turns to walk around the island. The floorboards in the hall creak as his other father, Crocodile, steps into the kitchen. He’s holding up two ascots with a serious expression.

            “Which one of these looks best?” he holds them up more as Dragon glances over his shoulder.

            “The right one.” Dragon turns back to the dishes. Crocodile fastens his ascot around his collar before sitting next to Luffy. He eyes him suspiciously before frowning deeper.

“How did you manage to already wrinkle your uniform?” his pa turns in his chair making escape impossible. Luffy darts his eyes away and stuffs a pancake into his mouth using it as an excuse to not answer. Crocodile pinches Luffy’s ear, “Like having a full mouth has ever stopped you from talking before!”

Luffy continues to stuff his mouth in a nervous habit and says, “’mm ‘ory!”

Crocodile rests back in his chair with an exhausted sigh, “I should just be glad it made it through the night.”

Dragon slides a cup of coffee towards Crocodile and a glass of milk to Luffy. They both sip it graciously as Dragon sits on Luffy’s other side with a cup of coffee of his own. He passes Crocodile a copy of today’s newspaper and before long they both drift into their usual morning silence. Soon the only sounds are of the birds chirping outside the kitchen window, the windchime over the back deck, and Luffy’s obsessive chewing. After one last large bite, Luffy gets up from his chair.

“See ya!” He starts for the door making his parents put their papers down.

“If you let me finish my coffee, I’ll take you.” Crocodile says by the time Luffy has reached the front door.

“Nah!” Luffy calls back as he slips on his sandals.

“Have a nice day and be safe!” Dragon is calling by the time Luffy has swung open the front door and stepping out into the morning sun.

Luffy and his parents live in a small 2 story home that sits on a hill overlooking the wide open ocean. Down the grassy hill following a winding dirt road is his grandpa’s house only a few feet from the oceanside cliff. The only other people who live this far from Foosha village is Dadan and her mountain bandits, making this their own private quiet peace of paradise. Luffy stares out at the watery horizon, picturing himself setting sail just like his older brothers did. But just as he’s about to let himself get swept away in his daydream, his phone buzzes, reminding him of how late he already is. He shakes his head and starts running down the road to the tunnel of trees and towards Foosha Village.  

Foosha Village is a small town based in the Goa district of the East Blue. There are four major territories known as the East Blue, the South Blue, the West Blue, and the North Blue. And in these territories are districts ruled by kings or some other higher ranking official, depending on its size. And within those districts are small towns like Foosha Village. By the time Luffy makes his way out of the tunnel of trees, he can spot the bus already waiting at the edge of town. Luffy takes a deep breath and charges full speed. Luckily there’s a line waiting to board, giving him some time to catch his breath.

“Luffy? What are you doing here so early?”

Luffy lifts his head to find Makino smiling at him. He returns her smile and says, “It’s my first day at the academy.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Makino starts reaching into her bag to retrieve a box and hands it to him. “I meant to give you this the last time I saw you. It’s a congratulations gift from me and the mayor. We’re rooting for you!”

Luffy rubs the back of his neck with a slight blush. “You didn’t have to Makino.”

“Nonsense, I know how much it means to you. Good luck on becoming a pi—” She stops herself before leaning in closer and whispering, “Good luck on becoming a pirate!”

By now its Luffy’s turn to board the bus. He steps up onto the first step and gives her a big grin, “I’m not just gonna become a great pirate, I’m gonna become the king of the pirates!”

Makino gives a nervous laugh as a few bystanders flinch at Luffy’s words. But before anything else can be said, the bus doors close and soon Foosha Village is in the distance.

The ride to the Goa district capital is a long and peaceful drive over slightly bumpy dirt roads and small bridges. They pass by countless windmills, rice fields, large pastures filled with cattle, and different thick forests that provide shade from the morning sun. But even with the calm of the quiet bus, Luffy can feel his excitement growing. He glances down at his phone. Illuminating on his cracked phone screen over a picture of him, Ace, and Sabo from the last summer they worked on his grandpop’s ship is two messages—one from each of his brothers.

Luffy, try not to cry on your first day! – Ace

Don’t listen to anything Ace told you. You’ll do great. – Sabo

And then,

But also, don’t cry on your first day. – Sabo   

Luffy snorts a laugh and sends them both the middle finger emoji before sliding his phone back in his pocket. Luffy has been waiting for this day for a long time. While it might not be setting sail on a ship of his own, it is the first major stepping stone to becoming a pirate. The Marine Naval Academy is one of the most elite schools you can get into. They promote themselves by highlighting all the successful marines that have come out of it. But what they don’t promote is all the successful pirates that have gone there too. Among them are both his parents—a famous warlord and revolutionary—and both his brothers. But more importantly, Gol D. Roger graduated from the academy and went on to become king of the pirates. Luffy rests his head back against the old leather bus seat and stares at the edge of his straw hat.

Shanks went there too.

His thoughts are interrupted when the bus comes to a stop. The Goa capital surrounds the bus with its tall building and paved streets. Luffy can’t get off fast enough. He can’t remember a time he’s been so happy to be in the capital. Usually, he only comes to cause trouble with Ace and Sabo. But today he’s just passing through. Because at the end of the capital is a long tunnel that leads to the Grand Line.

Luffy runs down the street, making a few people jump away afraid that he might run them over in his hurry. The semi empty streets slowly begin to fill as he soon finds himself joining the morning commute through the tunnel. A large fence separates the people walking and those lucky enough to have a vehicle. Luffy wonders absently while shoulder to shoulder with the dense crowd if one of the cars going by is his pa. While Luffy stares at the cars driving past, light beams in his eye, pulling his attention away as the tunnel opens up to the Grand Line.

The Grand Line is a massive city that stretches along the large land mass that connects the 4 territories. Unlike the East Blue with wide open spaces, easy country sides, and green as far as the eye can see, the Grand Line is almost entirely city. Tall skyscrapers that seemingly stretch all the way to the sky sprout nearly everywhere. The roads are filled with heavy traffic while the streets are always bursting with thick crowds. There are countless of water ways for the mermaids and fishmen along with those who travel by yagara. Overhead in the airways people drive bon chari’s or ride flying fish. Luffy crosses a bridge over a water lane as a large screen displays one of Uta’s new songs from her new album. A little further down he sees a store promoting Doflamingo’s new line of sunglasses while on the other side of the street he notices a large cutout of Moria Gecko promoting his line of stuffed toys.

Luffy rolls his eyes. The warlords are supposed to be serious pirates pardoned by the marines to help balance the powers of the 4 emperors. But more often than not, he sees them promoting a new business or brand they’ve signed on with. While waiting at a crosswalk he notices a screen in a shop window showcasing his pa’s casino. A small group of girls stop to admire his pa’s looks. Luffy makes a face and turns away.

When he finally reaches the train that should take him to the academy, Luffy’s unable to sit still. He shifts his weight from side to side while constantly checking the time on his phone. His brothers messaged him back but he’s too antsy to even read them. He drags his fingers down his face in impatient frustration when he notices a girl bump into a man a few feet away from him. The girl looks about his age with short orange hair. She smiles and apologizes to the man but when she turns to do so, he sees her reach into the man’s pocket and pull out his wallet. When the girl turns to walk away, their eyes meet. She pauses for a moment before lifting a finger to her lips and giving him a wink with a smile. When someone steps between them and moves out of the way again, she’s gone.

Luffy stares at the spot where the girl had been until the train pulls up and opens its doors. He steps into the train and manages to steal a seat. He plops down and pats his hands on his knees, starting to realize for the first time just how uncomfortable this uniform really is. He tugs at the handkerchief around his collar while tapping his foot. When the train finally starts moving, a new surge of excitement bursts through his chest making it impossible to stop smiling.

“Ugh, how can he sleep like that in a public space?” a woman hisses near him. Luffy lifts his head to see her whispering angrily to her friend. He follows their gaze to a green haired boy sitting a few seats down with his head tilted all the way back, mouth open, manspreading, and snoring louder than his dad Dragon. Luffy leans forward when he realizes the boy is wearing a Naval Academy uniform. He opens his mouth to call out to him when he realizes that if he’s asleep he probably won’t hear him. So instead, he rests back against the hard bus seat letting out a disappointed puff of air.

The train comes to a slow stop before it reaches Luffy’s destination. Luffy lets out another puff of air while watching people exit and enter the train. Further down, the boy sleeping snorts awake and leans forward on his knees. He rubs the back of his neck with a yawn and gets to his feet. Luffy watches the boy slowly exit the train in a groggy shuffle. Luffy finds himself standing and stepping off the train just before the doors close. The boy grumbles some sleepy words while blinking away the last of his sleep.

“Hey,” Luffy says startling the boy.

“Where the hell did you come from?” the boy yells with one hand darting down to the three swords hanging from his waist.

“You’re going to the Naval Academy, right?” Luffy points to his uniform.

The boy frowns with a raised brow, “So what if I am?”

“So, why’d you get off here? The Academy is one stop away.” This makes the boy tense up as he realizes his mistake.

“Well why the hell did you get off?” he shouts with his face growing red. It suddenly dawns on Luffy that he also got off at the wrong stop.

“I’m going to be late!” Luffy screams. They both start running but when they get to the bottom of the stairs, Luffy turns left while the boy turns right. Luffy skids to a stop and calls out, “Hey, you’re going the wrong way!”

The boy flinches and changes direction. They run side by side through the city streets in a complete panic. While doing so, they accidently crash through a cart causing vegetables to scatter into the road. At some point they leap over a parked car, angering the driver and both nearly fall into a water lane when they nearly miscalculate the distance after deciding walking across the bridge would take to long. The boy keeps wanting to turn down different alleys causing Luffy to grab his collar and yank him back on the right path. But finally, finally, after dashing up a set of stairs—skipping three steps at a time—they reach the Academy.

“I made it!” Luffy cheers with his arms outstretched towards the sky. The white stone building towers above them with big bold blue letters spelling out Marine Naval Academy. The boy with green hair stands at his side smiling up at the building with a hand loosely resting on his swords. They bask in the sun, taking in the moment… until the bell rings and they realize that they are the only ones standing in front of the building.

“Damn it!” the green haired boy shouts as they return to their panicked running. They bust through the front doors and dash down the pristine blue and white halls. They come to a stop in front of the auditorium doors. “I bet the assembly has already started!”

“Yeah, so we should be really quiet and try and sneak inside.” Luffy says right before kicking the double doors open causing a loud bang.

An auditorium full of students and teachers all slowly turn their heads to stare at them. At the front on a stage, Fleet Admiral Sengoku stands in front of a microphone in the middle of giving his speech. He narrows his eyes at them. Just behind Sengoku are two rows of seats. One row has the high ranking marines including his grandpa Garp who slaps a hand over his face at the sight of Luffy. On the other side is the 7 warlords including his pa Crocodile who is giving him a death glare. Luffy presses his lips tightly together with his foot still in the air from kicking the doors open.

“What was that about being quiet?” the green haired boy hisses at his side.

“Yeah… my bad.”

They quickly rush over to the closest set of empty chairs and take a seat. Admiral Sengoku clears his throat and continues with his opening speech. Luffy tunes out before he can even tune in to whatever the admiral is saying. Instead, he gets distracted by all the people in the crowd and the people up on the stage. The green haired boy lasts two minutes before yawning and immediately falling asleep. Luffy glances up where his pa sits. He’s thankfully stopped glaring at Luffy and has settled into a neutral bored expression. Doflamingo sits next to him with a wide grin. When he leans over to whisper something into Crocodile’s ear, Crocodile closes his eyes in clear annoyance before lifting up out of his seat. Shakky seems to have a silent understanding of the situation and gets up to switch seats with Crocodile. Doflamingo frowns and faces forward for the rest of the assembly.

Nothing else interesting happens for the rest of the assembly. By the time it ends, Luffy’s almost succumbed to sleep as well. When they’re signaled to stand, he smacks the boy next to him awake before they both stumble to their feet.

“Here at the Marine Naval Academy we hold ourselves to a higher standard. We expect great things from all of you.” And with that, Admiral Sengoku gives a proud salute, prompting the students to do the same, bringing the welcoming of the new school year ceremony to an end.  

“So how are we supposed to know where to go next?” the boy asks while they glance around the crowd of students who have begun to slowly sift out of the auditorium.

“Oh!” Luffy says when he sees a table that reads registration. He grabs the boy’s collar and drags him to the table. The two marines behind the table flinch when they appear. “We’re here to register!”

“Geez, late on the first day and interrupting the fleet admiral’s speech. You two must be trying to get expelled.” The pink haired one says while grabbing a stack of paper.

The marine next to him with a long goatee and heart shaped sunglasses leans back in his chair, “At the very least, detention on the first day.”

Luffy and the boy say nothing.

“Alright, what’re names so I can find out who’s the lucky son of a bitch who gets to teach you two.” The pink haired marine leans against his brass knuckle fist.

“Monkey D. Luffy.”

“Roronoa Zoro.” The green haired boy says.

“So, your names Zoro? I’m Luffy.” Luffy holds his hand out. Zoro stares at it for a second before giving a smirk and shaking it.

“Luffy huh? Well thanks for pointing me in the right direction.”

“Oh yeah, I did that a lot. You’re really bad with directions.” Luffy turns back to the table while Zoro tenses and grits his teeth. The marine with pink hair flips through a stack of paper until he stops and pulls one out. He reads over it for a second before bursting out in laughter. The marine beside him lets his seat fall forward so all legs are on the ground.

“What is it?” the other asks while taking the paper out of the pink haired marine’s hand. He reads over it before bursting out in laughter himself.

“Oh, he’s gonna love you two,” the pink haired marine wipes a tear away. “You’re both in room 12A. Goodluck.”

“You’re going to need it!” the other calls as Luffy and Zoro start to exit the auditorium.

“Those guys are weird.” Luffy says as they walk.

“They’re marines, what’d you expect?” Zoro stuffs his hands in his pockets as they turn down a different hall. Luffy stares at Zoro for a moment.

“Does that mean you don’t want to be a marine?” Luffy asks. Zoro arches a brow and gives a slight grin.

“I have no intention of becoming some lousy marine.” Zoro comes to a stop so that he can face Luffy. “I’m going to be the world’s greatest swordsman.”

Luffy stares at him for a long moment. Then he smiles. “Okay, I’ve decided.”

“Decided what?”

Luffy starts walking again before saying, “You’re going to join my pirate crew.”

“What? You can’t just decide that!” Zoro shouts while speed walking to catch up.

“Yeah, I can, I just did.” Luffy grins.

“And did you say pirate crew? Why the hell would I want to join up with a bunch of criminals?”      

“So what? The current greatest swordsman is a pirate. What’s the big deal?” Luffy shrugs making Zoro pause for a moment.

“Well when you put it that way…” he trails off in thought before asking, “Why do you want to become a pirate anyway?”

Luffy stops right in front of room 12A. He looks at Zoro from over his shoulder and says with a smile, “Because I’m going to be king of the pirates.”

He opens the door and steps through with Zoro close behind. The commotion of the room draws both of their attention. It seems Luffy and Zoro are also the last two to reach the classroom as nearly every seat is already filled. A small table is next to the teacher’s desk near the front with place cards on them. Luffy and Zoro both pick up the cards with their names on it.

“Hey, I’m number 16 and your 17.” Luffy and Zoro hold their cards next to each other. They walk toward the back of the room, noticeably aware of the eyes following them. When they find a table with the numbers 15, 16, and 17, Luffy plops down in the middle seat. The person sitting in the number 15 place shifts away from him, making him take notice. When he recognizes the girl, he smiles and says a little too loudly, “Hey, you’re the thief from before!”

The orange haired girl from the train tenses as heads begin to turn in their direction. The girl springs forward and slaps a hand over Luffy’s mouth.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she hisses. Luffy says something but it’s muffled by her hand. Zoro props his chin up on the desk with his hand.

“You two know each other or something?” he asks with a yawn.

“Hell no, I don’t know him.” The girl sits back in her chair with her arms folded over her uniform. Luffy rubs his jaw confused.

“I thought it was really cool how you stole that guy’s wall—” before he can finish, she has slapped a hand over his mouth again.

“Would you stop that! Not everyone in this class needs to know!” she doesn’t remove her hand until Luffy gives an understanding nod.

“I’m Luffy by the way.” He says while pointing his thumb behind him. “And this is Zoro.”

“Names Nami. Just don’t go blabbing around school that I’m a thief and we’ll get along just fine.” She turns her head to face the front.

Luffy gives a grin and a chuckle, “Sure thing, Nami!”

When the door to the classroom opens again, a marine with slicked back white hair steps into the room. Everyone falls into a deep silence. He closes the door to the classroom with a bang making some of the students in the front jump in their seat. Luffy rests both his arms on the table already getting bored.

“I am Captain Smoker and I’ll be the one teaching you sad excuses for marines for the next year. You may address me as Captain or Captain Smoker and nothing else, got it?” Smoker drops a stack of papers on his desk causing another loud noise but this time the ones who jumped only flinch. Luffy absently wonders when lunch time will be. “I’m going to give roll call. Sound off when you hear your name.”

He begins listing off everyone in the class, but Luffy doesn’t listen because he’s realized his chair has a wobbly leg that when he tilts back, it makes a funny noise. Luffy continues to tilt back on his chair, grinning to the sound as Zoro’s head drops as he drifts back to sleep. A loud bang comes from their desk causing Luffy to let his chair fall forward so all legs are on the floor and Zoro’s eyes to pop open. Smoker stands above them, but Luffy can’t tell if he’s frowning more than usual or if its just his face.

“What the hell are you two doing?” he snarls out through gritted teeth. Luffy glances around trying to see what he’s talking about.

“Just sitting here.” He shrugs but that must not have been the right answer because it just makes Smoker look even madder.

“When I call your names I expect you to answer!” he slams a hand down on the table making the people in the front flinch again but Luffy and Zoro remain unbothered. Smoker looks them over before narrowing his eyes, “Are you wearing a hat in my class? And are those earrings in your ear?”

Luffy pats the top of his head, “Yeah, this hat is real important to me!”

            “What’s the big deal if I am?” Zoro crosses his arms giving another yawn. A vein in Smoker’s right temple throbs.

            “Hats and earrings are prohibited! Take it off and take them out or they become mine!” Smoker yells making Luffy’s ears ring. This time he and Zoro get the message. Luffy swipes his hat back so that it stays tied around his neck but is off his head, while Zoro begrudgingly takes his earrings out and slips them into his pocket. Suddenly satisfied, Smoker picks up his clipboard and loudly says, “Monkey D. Luffy, here. Roronoa Zoro, here.”

            He walks back to the front as Luffy returns to leaning back in his squeaky chair. “What’s his problem?”

            “His problem? What’s your problem?” Nami hisses at his side. She rubs her temple looking exhausted. “Are you trying to get kicked out on the first day?”

            “Why do people keep saying that?” Zoro asks making Luffy shrug. Nami sighs with the shake of her head. When Smoker reaches the front of the room, he begins class. Everyone starts shuffling through their things to pull out books, paper, and pencils. Luffy pats his pockets realizing he didn’t bring any of that stuff.

            “Hey Nami,” Luffy whispers, “I forgot to bring paper and a pen. Can I borrow some?”

            “Me too.” Zoro leans over so that they are both looking at her. Nami stares at them dumbfounded.

            “How do you forget to bring supplies on the first day?” She stares at them but Luffy and Zoro only shrug making her roll her eyes. “Fine, but its going to cost you 500 berries each.”

            “500!” Luffy whisper shouts.

            “I don’t have that kind of cash.” Zoro grumbles while Luffy scratches his head.

            “I could give you one of my sandals, would that cover it?” Luffy starts to reach for his shoes, but Nami wrinkles her nose.

            “No, that won’t cover it.” She turns back to her work.

            “Here,” a voice in front of them says as sheets of paper are slid towards Luffy and Zoro. A boy with a long nose rummages through his bag and pulls out two pens and holds them out to them. “You can borrow some from me.”

            “Thanks! I’m Luffy, this is Zoro. We really owe you!” Luffy grins as he takes the pen.

            “I’m Usopp and don’t mention it. Anything to keep Captain Smoker from getting angry again.” Usopp shrugs while turning to face the front. With pen and paper in hand, Luffy buckles down ready to get serious about school.

            Except, as it turns out, school is really, really boring. School has always been boring to Luffy but he had hoped since this was the place where all the really cool and famous pirates came from that it would somehow be different and more exciting. But unfortunately, it’s not. It doesn’t take long for Luffy’s enthusiastic note taking to dwindle off into mindless doodles as he starts to lose interest. Eventually he’s resting his chin on the edge of the table struggling to sit still.

            “Zoro… I’m bored.” He glances at him only to realize that Zoro fell asleep almost immediately after Smoker started talking. “Oh, you’re asleep… you suck.”

            He glances at Nami but before he can open his mouth she says, “Not my problem.”

            He lets out a tired puff of air. He glances around the room trying to find anything entertaining when his eyes land on the guy sitting in front of Zoro. He keeps peeking over his shoulder at Luffy and then facing forward again. Luffy lifts his head intrigued. This time when the guy turns to glance towards him, Luffy is staring straight at him. This makes the guy flinch a little.

            “What’re you looking at?” Luffy asks now leaning towards him. The guy frowns.

            “I’m not looking at you I’m looking at…” his eyes drift past Luffy and towards Nami as a deep blush spreads across his face. “… I’m looking at the goddess next to you.”

            Luffy looks between Nami and the guy. “Oh, you mean Nami? Whatever you say.”

            The guy now turns in his chair so he’s half facing Luffy. “Hey, how about we switch seats? You can sit next to this guy who obviously doesn’t have an issue letting you bum off him and I get to sit next to Nami!”

            Luffy considers it for a second before going, “Nah.”

            “What, why?” Now the guy is fully turned towards Luffy.

            Luffy shrugs and lets his chin rest on the table again, “Just don’t wanna.”   

            The guy frowns and turns to Zoro. He kicks his leg causing him to startle awake.

            “What the hell is your problem?” Zoro rubs his leg where the guy had kicked him.

            “Switch places with me so I can sit closer to Nami.” The guy demands.

            “Screw you I’m not switching seats with anyone.” Zoro recrosses his arms.

            Usopp lets out a heavy sigh and says over his shoulder, “Would you three quiet down? You’re going to get us in trouble.”

            “Seriously, and I can hear you.” Nami says as she continues to take notes.

            “Oh, then Nami how about you switch places with Usopp?” the guy suggests.

            “No way, why do I have to move?” Usopp frowns at him.

            “No one wants to switch with you so just shut up.” Zoro says and to make sure his point gets across, he kicks the back of the guy’s chair causing a small box to fall out of his bag and slide across the floor. The four of them follow where the box stops in front of someone that they hadn’t realized had approached them. Luffy has returned to making his chair squeak. The four of them tense as Smoker reaches down and picks it up.

            “Is this a pack of cigarettes… in my room?” Smoker says through gritted teeth. Its at this moment that Luffy finally sees his teacher glaring over them.

            “Oh, what’s up Smoky?” He gives a little wave and in doing so, seals their fates.

            The vein in Smoker’s head throbs harder than ever before as he shouts, “DETENTION, ALL OF YOU!”

            And that’s how Luffy got himself and four others detention on the first day of school. When the school day is over, they all find themselves walking outside towards the old gymnasium where they’re supposed to report for detention. No one has said a word all day after the incident and Luffy can’t figure out why they’re all in such a bad mood. When they slide open the door to the gym and step inside, Nami and Usopp jump back when a man leaps out from behind a stack of old matts.

            “Welcome students to the worst day of your life!” the man shouts excitedly. “I am the great and humble warden of Impel Down and the one to bestow upon you your punishment!”

            They stare at him in a long and awkward silence before Luffy says, “Uh, no you’re not. The warden of Impel Down is this big creepy dude with horns.”

            The warden impostor flinches as if Luffy had punched him in the gut, “Okay fine! I’m not the warden. I am the vice warden Hannyabal and still deserve some respect!”

            “If you’re the vice warden of Impel Down, then why are you here supervising detention?” the blond haired guy asks.

            “If you must know the staff at Impel Down is required to volunteer our time at the Academy just like the 7 warlords. We’re usually given the task of supervising detention and in school suspension.” He crosses his arms and frowns at them. “Though we weren’t exactly expecting anyone to get in trouble on the first day. Real overachievers aren’t ya?”

            They have nothing to say to this. So Hannyabal turns and gestures to the gym. “For your punishment you’ll be tasked with cleaning this place top to bottom. You’ll clean it until your guardians come and pick you up in an hour. In the meantime, don’t bother me.”

            They all gawk in disgust and horror of the state of the old gymnasium. Everything is covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs and they’re pretty sure they see something scurry into a crack in the wall. Hannyabal walks over to a chair and sits with his feet propped up on an old desk. Within seconds he’s out like a light and snoring almost as loud as Zoro.

            “Geez, I can’t believe we got detention on our first day!” Usopp grumbles while passing out brooms.

            “Don’t look at me, it’s curly brow’s fault.” Zoro says as he takes a broom.

            “What was that moss head? You’re the one who kicked my bag!” the blond guy yells.

            “Would you both shut it? As far as I’m concerned, it’s all your faults. Including you Luffy.” Nami folds her arms while trying to find a semi clean place to sit.

            “I still don’t get why we got detention.” Luffy shrugs before pulling his hat on his head.

            “What are you doing? If someone sees, you’ll get in trouble.” Usopp says.

            “So what? I’m already in detention.” Luffy grabs a broom with a grin. He looks over at the blond guy with the curly eyebrow. “So, you got a name?”

            “It’s Sanji.” He says with his hands in his pockets. He pulls out a different pack of cigarettes and slips one in his mouth.

            “What is wrong with you?” Usopp shouts.

            “What? He’s right. We’re already in trouble, might as well relax.” Sanji lights his cigarette and blows out a steady stream of smoke. Zoro shrugs and puts his earrings back in his ears.

            “Honestly, I’m more surprised Captain Smoker was more concerned about your earrings than the 3 swords on your hip.” Nami says as she wipes off some dust on a chair and sits down. “What are you doing with 3 swords anyway?”

            “I fight with them, what else?” Zoro shrugs while grabbing two more brooms. Nami rolls her eyes before catching Sanji staring. She gives a sly smile and leans back in her chair.

            “Sanji, was it? Do you think you can clean my side of the gym for me? I’m just so tired from the day.” She says while fanning her face with her hand. Sanji immediately perks up.

            “Of course, Nami dearest! Anything for you!” Sanji shouts while starting to sweep the floors. Zoro rolls his eyes with a snort making Sanji frown at him. “What? Scared I’ll clean twice as much space faster than you?”

            This makes the hair on the back of Zoro’s neck stand on edge. He turns to glare at Sanji, “What was that curly brow?”

            Before anyone can stop them, Sanji and Zoro are racing each other to see who can clean the most the fastest. Zoro sweeps with a broom in each hand and one between his teeth.

            “What a bunch of morons. But if it gets this place cleaned up faster than who am I to judge.” Usopp shrugs with a smile.

            “Yeah,” Luffy agrees as he sweeps his broom back and forth. Usopp smacks the back of his head.

            “You’re sweeping with the wrong side of the broom you idiot!” He shouts as Luffy rubs the back of his head.

            He gives a “Whoops” and decides to give up on sweeping and join Usopp and Nami who are sitting on the sidelines. He hops up onto a stack of old matts that reek of mildew. Nami and Usopp pull their phones out and get lost in it prompting Luffy to do the same. He sees that he has several new messages.

            Did you really get detention on your first day? Sir Monkey D. Luffy we are going to have a talk when you get home. – Pa

            To Luffy,

 We talked about this. You can’t be getting in trouble like you did in your old school.

Sincerely,

Your Father. – Dad

            So, did you cry? – Ace, followed by a later text of a series of laughing emojis.

            At least it’s not expulsion – Sabo, he adds a shrugging emoji at the end.

            Luffy lets out a groan and runs a hand through his hair. Usopp looks up at him. “What’s wrong.”

            “My entire family knows I got detention.” He shows Usopp his phone who takes it and gives a laugh.

            “Does your dad really text like he’s writing a letter?” He hands Luffy his phone back. Luffy nods.

            “My older brothers have been trying to tell him how to text but he just doesn’t get it.” Luffy slips his phone in his pocket, not feeling like dealing with them right now.

            “My mom’s pretty bad at texting too… and really all new technology.” Usopp puts his phone in his pocket as well.

            “Same.” Nami adds with a stretch. “So, what’s a troublemaker like you doing at the Naval Academy?”

            “Both my dads went here and so did both my older brothers.” Luffy explains while letting his feet dangle over the tall stack of matts.

            “My dad went here too but… can I tell you guys a secret?” Usopp leans in so Luffy and Nami do the same. “I’m not here to become a marine. I’m going to become a pirate and great warrior of the sea!”

            “Me too!” Luffy hops from his stack of matts.

            “Oh really? Well maybe I’ll let you join my crew. They’re already 8,000 strong after all.” He gives a nonchalant shrug. Luffy gasps in awe while Nami shakes her head.

            “I hate pirates. Can’t stand them.” She leans on her knees propping her chin up with her hand. Usopp and Luffy stare at her. Before they have a chance to ask why she says, “But you’re not pirates yet… so I guess I can tolerate you.”

            “I guess that means you want to become a marine then?” Usopp asks while Luffy leans against the stack of matts. Sanji and Zoro continue to clean the gym, passing by every now and then usually in the middle of insulting the other. The question makes Nami give a small laugh.

            “No way, its just…” she tilts her head while staring at a ray of sunlight. “… my mom always wanted either my sister or me to come here.”

            They wait for her to go on, but she doesn’t. Not wanting to dredge up any bad memories, their conversation becomes much more lighthearted and easy going. Luffy finds out that Usopp and Nami are from the East Blue and when Zoro and Sanji overhear they reveal that they’re from there too. Usopp comes from a town almost as small as Foosha Village while Nami’s town is a much larger fishing village. Sanji and Zoro return to their competition before they can explain where they come from. Then the conversation turns to movies and music that they each like and before they know it the hour flies by.

            Sanji and Zoro both collapse in front of Luffy, Nami, and Usopp. Through their panted breaths they continue to argue over who cleaned the most and the fastest. The gym isn’t spotless but its much better off then it was before. Usopp, Luffy, and Nami have positioned chairs into a half open circle with Nami’s feet lazily propped in Luffy’s lap. Luffy remembered the box Makino had given him earlier that morning and is sharing the chocolate inside.

“There’s no way that’s true.” Nami says with a laugh.

“It is! I heard it from a very reliable source! They say that when the sun goes down if you walk the school halls, you’ll hear the ghost that haunts the Naval Academy! They say he’s the first pirate ever to be executed after the school was built so he stalks the halls singing Binks’s Brew!” Usopp wiggles his fingers with a ghostly groan.

Luffy laughs, “Ooo now I wanna see!”

“Binks’s Brew? That doesn’t sound very scary.” Nami rolls her eyes.

“Brew…? Did someone say brew? I could go for a cold one.” Zoro pants while still being sprawled out on the floor.

“Shut up moss head.” Sanji pants back. They both try to smack each other but neither have the energy. It’s at this moment that the door to the gym opens and a woman with a long nose steps inside.

            “Mom,” Usopp says as he stands. “I’ll see you guys later.”

He waves a goodbye and goes to his mother. She gives a polite nod to them and looks unsure if she should wake Hannyabal before ultimately deciding to just leave. The next person to arrive is a woman with the sides of her head shaven. She puts her hands on her hips and stares in Luffy and Nami’s direction.

            “Well, that’s me.” Nami says as she stands. She glances back at Luffy. “See you tomorrow.”

            Luffy watches her leave before sitting on the floor with Sanji and Zoro. It doesn’t take long before the door opens again and a man with a long blond mustache and peg leg steps inside. Sanji stands with a grunt, saying his goodbyes before leaving. Another 10 minutes goes by before the doors open and a familiar face steps inside.

            “Roronoa, lets go.” Warlord Hawkeyes Mihawk says. Zoro rubs the back of his neck as he stands.

            “Zoro, is that your dad?” Luffy gasps. Zoro shakes his head.

            “No, he’s my sponsor. It’s how I got into this school.” Zoro gives a lazy wave goodbye and stands next to Mihawk who eyes Luffy suspiciously.

            “Monkey D. Luffy I presume.” He says.

            “Yup, that’s me.” Luffy stares back at him.

            “I should have known.” Mihawk finally pulls his eyes away to stare at Hannyabal but only for a second before leading Zoro out of the room. With it just being Luffy, he gets bored quickly. He finds himself wandering around the gym looking for something to entertain himself with. He finds a basketball but its deflated and covered in cobwebs. He then tries poking his head under the stage at the far end of the gym but when he sees big bat wings spread out he shuts the small door and decides that he better not.

            30 minutes later when the sun goes down, the door to the gym finally opens. Luffy stops when his grandpa steps inside. He has one hand stuffed into one pocket and frowning at Luffy.

            “Let’s go, boy.” He says. Luffy nods and follows his grandpa out leaving a snoring Hannyabal alone in the old gymnasium.

            They’re silent the whole car ride through the Grand Line and through the tunnel to the East Blue. It’s not until they leave the Goa capital does his grandpa finally speak.

            “So, besides getting detention, how was your first day?” He keeps his eyes on the road as Luffy finally lifts his head and cracks a smile.

            “It was really boring, but I made a lot of friends.” He leans back in the passenger seat. His grandpa gives a soft smile and doesn’t say anything else. They’re silent the rest of the way home but the air is much lighter. When they finally pull into his parent’s driveway, Luffy starts to sink back down in his seat dreading what is to come.

            “Lets go, kid.” Garp says as he slides out the car. Luffy reluctantly does the same. A warm breeze rustles his hair and hat as he stares at his house. Why is it so dark? Usually, his pa is working in the downstairs office while his dad watches TV in the living room. The only thing normal is the delicious smell of food in the air. His parents have never made him go to bed hungry but he’s always worried one day he’ll tip them over the edge.

            He follows his grandpa down the stone path to the front door. His grandpa steps to the side making Luffy enter first. When he steps into the dark entryway, Luffy knows something is off. The entire house is dark and silent. A small surge of panic runs up his chest making him pad the walls until he finds the light switch. When it flicks on, he winces at the sudden brightness as a swarm of people jump out shouting “Surprise!” while someone throws confetti in his face.

            “What?” Luffy blinks trying to make sense of what’s going on.

            “Congratulations on not getting expelled your first day!” Sabo shouts while pointing to a paper banner across the entryway to the living room reading Congratulations On Not Getting Expelled Your First Day. Ace blows a noisemaker and throws another fistful of confetti in his face while Sabo slips a party hat over Luffy’s straw hat.

            “Did you all really think I was going to get expelled my first day?” Luffy shouts.

            Ace slings an arm around his shoulders, “More than I believe the sun will rise tomorrow morning.”

            “You guys suck.” Luffy pouts but can’t stop himself from grinning. He wanders around the house saying hi to everyone who came. Most are familiar faces from Baroque Works, Dadan’s mountain bandits, and the revolution.

            “Straw Boy!” Iva shouts from the back deck. Luffy maneuvers through his small living room filled with people through the open glass doors to find Iva, Bon Clay, Kuma, and his dad standing around a grill. “Glad you made it through your first day.”

            “You did make quite the entrance.” Kuma smiles.

            “I was fine!” He insists as his dad pats his head with a laugh.

            “We’re just messing with you… kind of. Go get something to eat.” His dad points to a long table of food. Luffy’s mouth immediately starts salivating. He piles his plate high with food and takes a seat on the floor in the living room.

            “… and he—he got detention the first day?” his pa’s loud laugh nearly makes him choke. He looks across the room to see his pa and Dadan leaning on each other laughing, both clearly drunk.

            “Oh, that kid was always trouble.” Dadan says with the wave of a sake bottle. His pa takes a swig of the bottle of whiskey in his hand.

            “But he was such a cute kid.” His pa says after a long gulp. That sends them both into a state of gushing over memories of Luffy as a kid. Luffy gives a slight groan but continues eating. Sabo and Ace find Luffy and sit on either side of him.

            “So, where’s grandpop?” Luffy asks when he realizes Whitebeard isn’t anywhere to be seen. Ace and Sabo exchange a look.

            “Pop’s had something come up. But he wanted to come.” Ace explains.

            After that, Sabo steers the conversation to old memories that Ace and Sabo shared while they went to the Academy. Luffy told him about his day and the new friends he had made. His pa eventually made his way over and forced all 3 boys into a clingy bear hug. Crocodile only ever gets mushy when he’s really hammered. Dragon comes to their rescue and coaxes him onto the back deck with the promise of something whispered into his ear. Luffy, Ace, and Sabo didn’t care to find out what that thing was. Through the whole night people celebrated Luffy’s first day at the academy with drinks and good food.

            When it finally gets late enough and the last of the guests are gone, Luffy lets himself fall onto the couch in a satisfied exhaustion. He rolls onto his side to poke at his pa’s cheek since he had passed out on the floor. Ace and Sabo shuffle through the house, collecting stray cups and plates.

            “Just leave it boys, we can do dishes tomorrow.” Dragon yawns.

            “You mind if we stay here tonight?” Sabo asks after a deep stretch. Dragon makes a face to say do you really have to ask?

            Ace and Sabo say goodnight while Dragon reaches down to hoist Crocodile over his shoulder. He ruffles Luffy’s hair and says, “Goodnight kid.”

            Luffy watches them disappear into their bedroom before settling into the silent stillness of the house. It doesn’t take long before he can hear Dragon’s snoring. Slowly, Luffy pushes himself up and places his feet on the floor. The moon shines in through the glass doors giving him plenty of light as the wind makes the windchimes sing. He walks through the creaky hallway and climbs the steps, wincing every time the stairs announced which step he’s on. He walks into his room and falls into bed before glancing over at the bunkbed. Ace has reclaimed his spot on the top bunk with and arm and a leg dangling over the side while Sabo sleeps like a normal person on the bottom. Luffy smiles and pulls off the part hat and sets it on the nightstand. He then carefully takes his straw hat off and holds it up in the moonlight.

            This hat means a lot to me. Promise that you’ll give it back someday when you become a great pirate.

            Luffy rests the hat gently on his chest and closes his eyes.

            “I promise.”

Read full story HERE on AO3!!!

[dilf-barbecue-sauce]

I couldn't even begin to explain the train of thought that led to this so don't ask

Thoughts? Opinions?

[mugiwara-shuenobi]

[mrteaspill]

Drew some M(itosis)preg AU Doodles at Uni!!

(Imagine this is a timeline where Garp didnt know he can 'give birth')

Sengoku & Tsuru: Please, don't hold your baby like that Garp.

Tsuru wants to make sure Garp feels how she and Sengoku felt around him (Garp always drives them crazy, so now its their turn for payback)(little did they know, that exact baby is gonna cause so much trouble for the world)

Quick father-son nap /(>×<)\

To Rayleighs dismay, in a decade and half, hes tasked with raising not one, but TWO babies lol.

He also got it wrong about Garp. Garp didnt pull noone, he only gave birth🤷‍♂️

Just the sons being adorable😙✨️

[loudtimemachinewitch]

They came from All Blue

[eroguron0nsense]

Garp Rant #11543

Because I'm something of a Certified Garp Hater/extremely obsessed with this man, and because Tumblr people seem to like my Garp takes and/or find them extremely pain-inducing, here's another one for funsies! Again, Garp is an incredibly written character and I massively enjoy his moral failings and human shortcomings, hence why I won't shut up about how much he sucks. So we all remember Garp crying in front of Ace during his imprisonment and awaiting his execution, lamenting the fact that his son and grandson could have maybe avoided this horrible horrible fate that awaits them at Marineford if they'd just become good marines like he'd tried to press them into. Every time he says it, he sounds more desperate, sadder, and angrier, like he's experiencing the stages of grief and going through denial, anger bargaining all at once, lashing out at his grandkids for supposedly causing him grief by defying his wishes, or maybe praying or wishing for a world where they could have followed in his footsteps and lived happily ever after. And when Ace hears that again at Impel Down, he says this:

Here's the thing though: Ace is unequivocally correct Garp should, by all rights, know this. He lived through the fallout of Roger's execution. He knew long before that exactly what would happen to Roger's loved ones and anyone the government could get their hands on who'd ever associated with him. Even before they started committing femicides/infanticides in Baterilla trying to end Roger's bloodline, he knew that the Marines were going to target completely innocent people in the name of purging the bloodline and cementing their "victory" over the greatest threat they'd ever faced. He specifically had to smuggle Rouge out of there so she could give birth to Ace, and all the while dozens of families were being brutalized by his peers and having their lives torn apart. That was the cost the Marines were willing to incur to kill a hypothetical infant, and years later, when that very same child is set to be executed, Sengoku goes on a remorseless public tirade about the necessity of killing babies and the horrible trickery and audacity Rouge displayed by dying so that they wouldn't kill her baby too.

Garp knows every single piece of this information in painful, excruciating detail. He's so horrified by it he feels the need to fulfill this wish of Roger's because he knows blameless people will die. He has Ace raised in secret to protect him from Marines who are figuratively and literally out for his blood. And yet, throughout this boy's childhood, he clings to the notion that maybe, just maybe, the people he knows regularly commit atrocities, who have carried out at least 3 genocides that we know of in Garp's lifetime, who were willing to commit mass infanticide for a woman and child they hadn't verified the existence or identity of at the time, would have accepted him within their ranks and turned a blind eye to that information when it eventually, inevitably surfaced. That Ace can find salvation from the people who stole every loved one he ever had before he was even born, who slaughtered his mother's community and pushed her to her death, and were slavering at the opportunity to kill her. That even though Ace was born in direct opposition to them, has had a target trained on him before he was born, these people who tried so goddamn hard to kill him would surely welcome his presence and not murder him the second they found out if he could just be a compliant model soldier and make himself useful. It's hammered home pretty effectively–especially in the manga– and One Piece has never been known to be subtle in its messaging, but I swear to God I see so many people echoing the notion that Garp's attempts to force his grandchildren into serving the Evil Empire was done because he knew was their only shot at safety from the WG, and I fucking despise this take. Ace saying that he could never be a marine here in Impel Down isn't some young man's rationalization for his (beyond valid) desire not to subscribe to the preset path Garp laid out for him; it's literally the only logical conclusion if you know literally anything about the circumstances of his birth and upbringing, and Garp only thinks that the leopards wouldn't eat Ace's face because he's fucking delusional This in and of itself is extremely telling of how horribly warped Garp's perception of the Navy is, and how deeply he's willing to buy into the Marines and their warped propaganda no matter how many glaring examples he sees throughout his life that counter his worldview, but let's not forget that this applies to Luffy too. This is slightly hairier, in that if Luffy was a) the sort of person who could willingly accept a career in the marines and b) managed to cling really, really tightly to his grandfather's coattails and legacy, there might have been a very, infinitesimally small chance that he could have joined the Navy. The higher ups know that Dragon is Garp's son and therefore Luffy is Dragon's by logical inference, but I could see some AU where Luffy is a fundamentally different person and manages to build himself up in the Navy if not for two things I think warrant examination. It's pretty evident, and Dragon explicitly confirms, that Luffy being known as his son would have put him in incredible danger, only feeling comfortable with acknowledging it and the possibility of actually reuniting with his child after Luffy was both publicly recognized due to factors beyond his control, and proved that he was more than capable of holding his own. But I want to draw attention to this one otherwise pretty silly little gag moment between Garp and Sengoku when they learn that Luffy's broken into Impel Down, and present a theory that's kind of a reach but also not really

Now the phrasing here kind of interests me, in that it ties back to earlier demonstrated patterns that the Navy uses repeatedly in collective punishment for the families and loved ones of their primary targets. Rouge and Ace barely escaped the mass murders intended for them because of their connection, but Tom was also originally sentenced to death for having had a connection to Roger, and ultimately chose that as the offence he wanted to be sentenced for at Enies Lobby. Law, as a child survivor of Flevance, has multiple hospitals try and turn him in to the World Government to be killed when Cora tries to find someone to treat him because their policy is to pull out the roots and salt the earth whenever they deem a person or population politically inconvenient. Robin's flashback shows us Akainu blowing up a refugee boat on the off chance that one of those people that they were planning to evacuate might have gotten past their initial screening for archaeologists/poneglyph readers. At Marineford, Akainu specifically targets Luffy not because of his prior offences or even his attempt to rescue Ace, but because he's Dragon's son and his and Roger's bloodlines need to be eradicated. This is not an institution that is in any way reluctant to destroy anyone tangentially affiliated to a designated enemy, and Luffy being the son of the worst criminal in history seems to put him right in line with all of those other cases. In light of this, and Garp's massive blind spots and wishful thinking regarding his peers and employers, it's not that much of a stretch to assume that the only reason Garp's exempt from being targeted like Dragon is because of his popularity/symbolic importance/utility, and that Luffy likely wouldn't have been safe even if he weren't a pirate. Garp's circle of confidantes/friends in high places is powerful, but clearly there are factions (Akainu, Ryokugyu etc) that would be substantially less willing and who are given preferential treatment by the Elders and Celestial Dragons. There might be something to read into based on the fact that Garp is the only known person from a D bloodline who's achieved massive success in service to the World Government and not defected from the Navy after realizing its true nature (props to Saul), and therefore he might project the fact that he's been rewarded by the system despite being a "sworn enemy of the Gods" onto his family, but that still doesn't account for the massive, delusional arrogance he displays in insisting that, despite everything–especially, especially the murders committed in pursuit of Ace, that robbed him of his birth mother and community–the Navy is the best and safest place for either of those boys. TLDR Garp not wanting his grandsons to have a bounties on their heads is one thing, but it says a lot that in spite of everything he knows, he's willing/determined to put Ace and Luffy in an environment that's extremely dangerous for them –and in Ace's case 100%, unquestionably fatal– because he's so convinced that compliance and the platonic ideals of "justice" and military service/hard work being rewarded by the system could supersede all of that.

[xyrill]

i ate an edible

so i made one piece admirals costco headcanons

have some doodles i made beforehand lolzies

bors

i feel like borsalino would obliberate a costco hot dog! they are literally $1.50 in the US! like wtf he would totally buy 5 or more, eat a few, and put some in the fridge.

he'd also buy a ton of snacks. maybe even $100 worth of dried nuts, fruits, and chips.... a junkie since i'd call him a stoner

he'd also buy ramen packs to stock; damn i feel like he would just eat ramen everyday-- restaurant ramen, home made ramen, and mf instant ramen

go to the optometrist section, try out sunglasses, but never buy them because he's attached to his yellow ass sunglasses

buy alcohol on sale

frequents costco with another admiral-- he goes by himself if he has to buy groceries

sak

sakazuki would totally fucking demolish a chicken bake. but honestly, like buy one to eat for lunch and buy a frozen pack from the freezer section of costco and reheat them for the next following lunches.

he would also sometimes buy the $5 rotisserie chicken. they have the best seasoning MMM

the karen of the admirals. complain to the manager if his rotisserie chicken is taking more than 15 MINUTES to cook

buys a pack of beer every week

he goes by himself and gets annoyed when someone asks to tag along

kuzan

kuzan? he would absolutely love to prepare dinners and buy bulk.

he'd eat up an entire potato salad.

buy fruit and fresh produce

even hit up the bakery

stock up on gift cards like a smart man

he stocks up on vitamins, probably even buys fish oil pills

fujitora

frequents the clothes section

he would dress up like a dad/uncle, buying the best flip flops/sandals

he'd always buy the 24 pack eggs or more

the very opposite of sakazuki, he'd be the most patient person with busy employees

self checkout but with the help of an employee

try out the occasional massage chairs

buy packs of melatonin gummies :)

aramaki

this fucker doesn't even have a costco card

he would sneak in with another admiral or pair up with some random person with a card to get in

he buys all the toys and cool looking comic books at the book section

he would only try samples and buy snacks

he gets a cart, not just to put his stuff in, but to have the right of way and be fast.

sengoku

would buy gift cards to restaurants -- he would definitely love olive garden

always asks an employee where stuff is

a bit impatient, especially if he's behind a slow person walking

looks at all the books

goes to the produce section just to find food for his goat :)

he buys ugly/cute stuffed animals

he'd be a fucking squishmallow collector omg...

garp

buys sweaters and clothes for koby from the clothes section

fuck, he probably loves koby more than asl >_> (probably not true)

would go to the headphones section and listen to the random songs that it plays

ACTUALLY, he would bring koby around in costco and be an absolute dad, embarrassing him with whatever chance he gets

frequents coscto with sengoku

he would go to costco with sengoku if he loses his costco card-- which is almost all the time maybe

edit: there are so many grammar mistakes oh my god HAHAHA

[diablademon]

School girl antics.

[whoishotteranimepolls]

"Who's Hotter?" One Piece Fandom Wars

[lild00td00t]

I loved your headcanons of the Strawhats with a shy s/o!! Are you able to do headcanons of the admirals with a shy s/o? I enjoy how you write them!

Marine Admirals with a Shy!S/O

I LOVE HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN REQUESTING THE ADMIRALS! THEY MAKE MY HEART SOOOOAAAARR ! ~ Anyhow please enjoy, I’m SO happy this series makes you happy, I’m thrilled to be making something you like <3 Thank you for being here!

Characters: Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji, Fujitora, Sengoku

Akainu | Sakazuki

• I feel Akainu would get frustrated sometimes, especially if you have problems with people walking over you or being slow taking time with a response

• He doesn’t have a problem being assertive, he screams confidence and has no problem getting what he wants (demands). So if you’re a shy person that needs someone to be a mouth piece he’s more than willing to be in control and help you

• He would definitely teach you how to be more assertive and bold, though he’s not patient he still wants to you to do things on your own despite his preference for being in control

• He wouldn’t order for you, or make calls, he simply wants you to learn to do it on your own, and his methods are that of a birds. Push it out of a nest and hope it flies, if not, oh well :( however, if he’s not in a terrible mood he’ll order his food first, and want you to mimic his body language and mannerisms in order to get better

• If you find yourself becoming frustrated or scared he will tell you to simply take a moment to prepare yourself, I imagine he would watch you write out a script and tell you if it’s good or not, and he’d monitor how you deliver it

• If you need comfort after messing up he’ll simply give you a pat on the shoulder with a “practice more, it gets easier when you do. “

• Id give him a 6/10 just because I don’t imagine him being the best with someone shy, but at the same time with his controlling nature he manages

Kizaru | Borsalino

• God help you, this man will tease you non stop

• “ ooohh can you repeat that my love ? I didn’t heaaar youu ~ “

• In all seriousness, he simply fawns over how shy you are, and finds it endearing. He’s always pinching your cheeks and rubbing your head, you’re simply adorable to him

• He would do anything for you, including ordering for you and making calls on your behalf, yknow how you always have your mom go with you to doctors appointments? Kizaru is now your mom, and will gladly hold your hand while you get a shot but that’s a story for another imagine- don’t expect him to not tease you though

• 10/10, he’d take great care of someone shy !

Aokiji | Kuzan

• He’s definitely drawn to you. Whether it be your quiet nature, or your bashful exterior around others, you’ve gained his attention

• You’re both quiet around each other, over time you’ve learned to communicate with just looks alone, it’s quite humorous

• Aokiji is lazy. Like, this is a known fact, do NOT expect him to make phone calls or even order, because he can’t even get his own work done on time -

• He supports from afar, so if you need reassurance, the most you’d get is a pat on the back and a “ you’ve got this baby “ * insert eye roll here*

• He won’t tolerate people walking over you though and at that point WILL urge you to say something

• Aokiji does his best to show you that he’s supportive, the problem is, he didn’t fear people in a way that you do, so he doesn’t particularly understand why you do better in some situations then others-

• Definitely voices how proud he is of you though, he always praises you <3

• id give him a 7/10 with a shy partner

Fujitora | Issho

• The absolute sweetest of all the admirals, he already loves when you hold his arm when you walk, so if you feel nervous, link arms with him, guide him, he’ll gladly follow and make you feel so safe

• Is ALWAYS patient with you and memorizes your orders, if you want him to order first or for both of you he’ll gladly do so with no complaints. While you order he’ll have his hand rubbing up and down your back or simply on your back to show his support <3

• He always sticks up for you and reassures you that being shy/quiet is perfectly fine, but letting people walk over you because of your failure to voice your opinions or requests is not, he lets you know that what you have to say is important, just like anyone else

• He, like Kizaru, finds you simply adorable and cannot resist squishing your face and kissing you when you’ve done something successful, he’s so over the moon and beyond proud of you !

• 10/10 with a shy partner <3<3<3

Sengoku

• Sengoku would do pretty good with a shy S/O, I think he would love having someone to definitely balance him out personality wise

• Garp brings out his goofy/childish side, and you bring out his calm and collected side

• your quiet/shy nature makes him feel like he has to provide and stick up for you, it gives him a protective feeling over you, he’d be a mouth piece if needed but he doesn’t want to undermine you

• Much like Akainu, he likes to be in charge, so ordering the food or making calls is definitely up his alley much to your relief, though if you want to try he’d be more than happy to help you !

• his goat is your emotional support animal

• In all seriousness though Sengoku can be very supportive and loving, he never lets anyone talk over you and definitely lightens your mood with jokes if you’re feeling nervous or overwhelmed

• I’d give him a 9/10 with a shy S/O

[moonbaby26]

Once again, I promise I have fic in my drafts! 😭 But loved the Tsuru/Sengoku besties lamenting in the marine mess hall in the latest episode. And them freaking out to hear other bestie Garp plus Tsuru’s granddaughter went to Beehive. Plus the goat eating the Cross Guild flyer. 💗

I always wonder if Sengoku and Tsuru ever dated when they were young. Hell, maybe they date sometimes now? They old, not dead, yall. 🤣 Garp would only ever be a one night stand though. Back in the day. They were all drunk. Very drunk. Don’t bring it up. Ever. Tsuru will kill you.

Reminder of these marine beasts back in the day by the way.

[nobody-is-here01]

Sengoku : Remember, we’re on celestial dragon grounds. Be on your best behavior

Marine Luffy : Watch yourselves recruits

Sengoku : This applies mostly to you

Marine Luffy : Oh- You bite ONE guy and suddenly no one trusts you!

Sengoku : YOU BIT HIS FINGER OFF

Marine Luffy : I SPIT IT BACK OUT-

Garp & Akainu : *stare in silence*

[aucupariaart]

8. Hike

Even old, legendary Marines need their time off. What would be better than a hike on a lost, abandoned island with a lot of goats?

[thegreatsolaris]

"WILL YOU GET UP???!"

Worst grandpa of the year hands down but isn't he a little funny with it? I can't explain this one boys..... no saving my ass