So this is a fic from a WHILE back, although the Tumblr version of it, I must say it is terrible. It had sooo many typos. This one isn't as bad. I fixed it up. It's pretty much hinted ASL but starts off with Ace and Luffy. Because you know, I love that sort of thing. Here you guys go~
It was summer vacation and Luffy couldn't help but feel like he was trapped in a cage. Summer vacation usually meant FREEDOM, having fun, and doing whatever you wanted without worrying about stupid homework, or better yet, in Luffy's dictionary, that's what it meant AND if by some chance he did have homework it would be taken care of on the last few days left (aka the last day of damn vacation).
So what was this young man doing? Where was he at? He was at the city library, sitting at a table, writing a paper for his English class. Well, he was attempting to. The younger male sighed.
"I don't wanna keep writing. I wanna go eat lunch."
"Oi, Luffy, I thought we agreed. No lunch until you at least finish your introductory paragraph. You've only written your name and title!" The freckled male that went by the name of Ace, was Luffy's adopted brother, whom he had grown up with. They practically only had each other and always depended on one another.
Ace was pretty much spending his summer trying to keep his younger brother in check. The last time he didn't keep an eye on him the younger male ended up forgetting about his actual assignments until the last day of his vacation.
"B-But..Ace..I'm hungryyyy~" Luffy pouted.
Ace furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and looked down at the pouting boy who was resting his head on the table.
"No. That's not working on me this time. Lu, come on." He reached for the papers on the table. "Here let's see what you have to write about."
After taking the time to explain to Luffy the topic of feminism, he had to admit he was getting a bit bored himself. When it came to the history of something, it wasn't really a subject that excited either of them. Well, it really just depended but since this was technically forcing Luffy to do something, he disliked it. Some lunch sounded really nice…but as tempting as it was, Ace was just as stubborn to make his younger brother start his paper.
"Wait, so I just have to introduce what I'm talking about? People make stuff so much harder!" Luffy tried to start his paragraph and after many tried attempts, Ace looked over it and just sighed.
"Lu, you can't just put random opinions here. You have to back up your statement with facts. Don't put 'I think' either, people won't be convinced that you know what you're talking about."
Luffy looked up at Ace. " Why's this such a big deal? Girls are the same as boys, so there's no problem."
Ace scratched his head. "Not everybody thinks the same. That's why you need to know history to learn about the mistakes."
"Then they're stupid." Luffy started getting irritated while his stomach grumbled a little louder.
The freckled male laughed a bit at his brother's statement. "You're right Luffy. They are pretty stupid but I'll go try and check out a few books to help. I'll be right back." He ruffled the boy's hair as he got up off his chair and headed towards the different sections.
Meanwhile, Luffy started dozing off at his table, until he noticed an all too familiar smell nearby. The sweet alluring smell of strawberries. Yes! They were strawberries. Luffy jolted up and started looking around, desperately trying to track the smell. His all too impatient stomach agreed that it was indeed time to eat! Once the boy was finally able to pin point the exact location of the strawberries he saw a blond male sitting at the table across from his. The male was reading a book of his own, so it seemed. He was eating strawberries quite slyly.
The boy got up from his seat and wandered over to the blond's table. The older male quickly noticed a figure squatting down near him. He looked down at the curious boy with owl looking eyes. After a good minute of staring back and forth, the younger male spoke.
"Hi~"
The blond blinked,"Hi there. What brings you to this side of town?" he said a bit playfully.
"Shishishi~ I smelled strawberries!" Luffy pointed to small black bag.
"Oh?" He heard a grumbling sound coming from below and laughed. "I'm guessing you came over because you're hungry?"
The dark haired male nodded.
"I guess I could share. You did just come up to a complete stranger, after all."
Sabo handed his bag over to the boy and Luffy made his signature wide grin that automatically made you his friend.
Luffy got too carried away and ended up eating the whole thing. The blond couldn't hold back his laughter. He first came up to a complete stranger and told them the smell of their strawberries lured them in. He started to wonder where he came from.
While stuffing the last batch of strawberries in his mouth, the boy asked, "Mm- what's your name? My name's Luffy! Oh…sorry about eating all the strawberries…"
The blond chuckled. "You can call me Sabo. I'm glad you enjoyed the strawberries. They actually grow in my back yard so I can always just bring some more, don't worry about it. Besides, you seemed pretty hungry~"
"I was! Stupid Ace wouldn't let me eat! So I was starving. You're really nice! You fed me." The boy once again grinned widely at the blond.
Sabo didn't know what to think. Okay so the boy was adorable and all, but how could he be so bold and just tell all of this to a complete stranger? He intrigued him and he couldn't help but ask.
"Ace? Who's that?"
Luffy raised an eyebrow. "Oh right, shishishi. You dunno Ace. He's my older brother."
'An older brother? He let his little brother starve?' Sabo took out a bag of blueberries next.
xxxx
Finally getting the books he thought would be the most helpful to Luffy, Ace headed back to the table, but found it empty. He put the books down and looked around in a bit of panic.
'Seriously Luffy, you better not have left to eat-'
But before he could think anymore he spotted his brother. Luffy was sitting at the table across from him speaking to a blond male. While marching over to the table, Ace felt his temper rising. Here he was trying to get Luffy to at least start on his assignment, but instead he finds his brother being fed blueberries by a complete stranger. How his brother clicked well with anybody would always be a mystery to him. He made it to the table and instantly glared at Sabo.
"Oi, Luffy. What are you doing?" He said sternly.
Luffy quickly stuffed his face in an attempt to 'hide' the blueberries.
"Ashhe! Nnnothing" Luffy gulped them down and continued. "Just here talking to my new friend! Sabo, this is my brother Ace!"
"Nice to meet you." Sabo put on a smile for the freckled male, despite being stared down menacingly.
Ace ignored the blond and pulled Luffy out of the chair. "I was trying to help you with your paper and you wander around to go get fed by a complete stranger?!"
"Sabo's nice! He fed me strawberries and blueberries! Ace only wants me to do stupid homework." Sabo lightly chuckled at the comment while getting another mean glare his way. He felt like he was coming in between something and didn't know whether to just walk himself out because the older male looked like he really wanted to punch him, or to just sit there because they technically were at HIS table.
"I'm not gonna argue with you here about that. But it's nice to know a complete stranger won you over." Ace dragged Luffy away, while the boy was whining and complaining calling his brother names. The blond just sat there trying to process everything that happened to him. When he first heard about the guy, he seemed terrible for letting his brother starve. But he felt he understood where the freckled male was coming from now. One thing he knew for sure was, he felt like he had to see those two again. They were sure entertaining and adorable in their own way.
'I can understand the little brother, but the other guy was practically ready to swing at me, and I thought he was adorable?' Sabo just shook his head in disbelief.
xxxx
Ace ended up checking out the books he found for Luffy, and decided his brother, whether he wanted to or not, would start the damn paper at home! No more distractions. The brothers left the library and Ace was quiet on the ride home with a grumbling Luffy beside him. The freckled male wasn't sure why he was so upset in the first place. He was debating between the fact that his little brother charmed someone he didn't even know or the fact that Luffy kept seeing him as the mean older brother who wouldn't let him do as he pleased.
The younger brother on the other hand was upset because his older brother was being mean and he was rude to Sabo, his new friend! He liked Sabo. He fed him yummy fruits and even offered to bring more.
So when you put two grumpy brothers in one room you tend to get them arguing between each other.
"WHY IS ACE BEING MEAN?!"
"WHY DO YOU NEVER LISTEN?!"
"ACE IS AN IDIOT!"
"JUST BECAUSE I DIDN'T FEED YOU? I BET THAT BLOND GUY WOULDN'T BE SO NICE IF HE KNEW WHAT A BRAT YOU COULD BE!"
They were throwing things at one another until Luffy kicked and pushed Ace. He went flying, luckily landing on the futon. Luffy stuck out his tongue and Ace was just about ready to send Luffy flying next, until two really loud grumbles were heard. Both males stared at each other almost trying to figure out where the sounds were coming from but soon realized their stomachs were calling their attention.
Ace just started laughing, Luffy soon after, did the same. "I guess we can call this off. I just wanted you to get started on your damn paper Lu."
"Shishishi~ I can start it with Ace's help after we eat!" Luffy said happily.
The freckled male just sighed and gave in. Going against Luffy's stomach was already a challenge in itself, but going against Luffy's stomach along with his OWN stomach was impossible.
When the brothers finished devouring their meals, they decided to get back to that dreadful paper Luffy had been avoiding for the entire day. Ace stared at the boy attempting to concentrate on the book his brother checked out for him. He pretty much knew what he had to do. Ace did a good job at explaining most of it and even outlining some parts. Before he started writing on his paper he looked up at his brother and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. Ace being taken by surprise felt a bit warmer than usual on his face.
"What was that for?"
"Ace is only mean because he wants me to finish this dumb homework so I could have fun too!" Luffy grinned at his brother.
The freckled male ruffled Luffy's hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek in return, quickly turning away afterward.
"Thanks."
The boy giggled to himself. "Ne~ Was Ace jealous of Sabo?"
Ace turned back to his brother and furrowed his eyebrows. "Jealous?! Of some stranger? No. I just didn't like how friendly he was being with you."
"Shishishi~ Ace doesn't need to worry, I love him a lot. But Sabo had really yummy fruits! He said he would bring more next time! You should try some too. I'm sure he'll share!"
Ace felt a slight twitch in his eye. "I don't care. I don't want that guy's fruits."
The younger male amusingly said, "Hmmm, well I liked him a lot. I can't wait to see him again!"
There was a sudden knock at the door and before Ace could continue complaining about his dislike for the blond, Luffy stormed off to go answer it. When Ace got up and walked over to go see who was at the door, he heard Luffy shout in excitement and found him clinging onto the damn blond guy!
"YOUUUUUUUUU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHY ARE YOU HERE? HOW DID YOU FIND US? WHAT THE HELL?!"
Sabo was struggling to hold onto to the bags of fruit he brought over and tried not to fall over with the energetic male clinging onto him.
"Look Ace! It's Sabo~" Luffy said with a gleam in his eyes.
Ace was about to explode in fury. "Yeah…. I can clearly see THAT. What IS HE DOING HERE?"
"Oh I invited him shishishi!~"
There was a blank expression on his face until- "YOU WHAT?!"
Sabo could only stand there struggling with both the fruit bags and Luffy. He decided to walk over to the nearest table and place the bags down, passing an infuriated older brother.
"Uh, before you decide to pulverize me, hear me out. Luffy wanted more of the strawberries and blueberries I gave him. Since I'm always growing so many. So I figured, why not bring them over? He looked really happy when I mentioned the idea." He grinned at Ace and then playfully smiled back at Luffy.
"See! Sabo's so cool!~" The younger male was ecstatic.
"Hope I'm not taking too much of the spotlight~"
Ace was about to seriously throw the guy out, but before he knew it, Luffy had already dragged Sabo into the room.
'Wait, DID HE SERIOUSLY TAKE HIM INTO OUR ROOM!?' It took a while for Ace to actually process all of this. He was just shocked at what was going on.
In all honesty, there was another reason Luffy invited Sabo over. Before Ace found them interacting, Luffy had been talking about his dreadful paper to the blond. Ace was good at explaining, but it never stuck for too long with Luffy. For some reason, when Sabo explained the topic to Luffy, it all stuck like glue. He had a way with words and the boy was mesmerized. When Ace stomped into the room ready to yell at them both, he couldn't believe his eyes. They were both sitting down side by side and Luffy was actually reading pages back to Sabo. The younger boy would actively ask questions and Sabo would answer as simple as possible. He could never get Luffy to look that interested in a damn history book. How was this guy doing it?!
When Luffy noticed his brother standing at the door with an intrigued look on his face, he poked Sabo to grab his attention. Both males looked up at Ace and all the freckled male could really muster up to say was, "Not bad. Guess I don't have to kick you out."
End Note: I live and die for Alternate Universe fics. I sometimes write in the One Piece universe (also depends on the characters/pairings) but with ASL specifically, I prefer AU because I want them TOGETHER (romantically or NOT, don't care I just want them to be happy DAMMIT). *runs off to go get tissues*