Luffy could swear his skin was burning, burning away as if it had been dipped in some terribly corrosive substance. Partially, he knew, it was due to the hurts Ace and his friends had given him earlier that day (and the previous day, and before that), but he was positive that most of it was because of how badly he wanted to see Ace again.

And so he was running, racing to the back of the school where Ace was waiting for him. The rolled up sleeves of his uniform shirt were chafing against his raw elbows, but he couldn't care less; he wouldn't be wearing it for very much longer, if he were lucky.

He rounded a corner and spotted Ace, leaning against a tree and trying his best to look detached, but his expression softened when he saw there was no one else to look but Luffy.

Luffy wasted no time diving into his arms, grinning into Ace's chest as they embraced. Then Ace's grip tightened a little too much; he felt a twinge of pain lance up his spine and flinched involuntarily.

Ace pulled away abruptly and Luffy suppressed his disappointment. "Are you okay?"

Luffy nodded. "Perfectly fine," he lied.

"No, you're not," said Ace, reaching out to catch his scraped arm. He pulled it towards him and inspected it with regretful eyes. "It's because of earlier, isn't it? Because of what we did."

"Yeah," Luffy answered mournfully.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Ace brushed his fingertips lightly over Luffy's wounds. "I never should have… I wish that I hadn't– that I wasn't–"

"It's okay," said Luffy, smiling gently. "What matters is that I know you didn't want to."

"No," Ace's hold on his wrist constricted uncomfortably, "what matters is that I did it anyway. I love you, and I hurt you, and how can you just keep forgiving me?"

"I forgive you because I love you too," Luffy assured, "and because I know how much your friends mean to you."

"They are my friends," Ace said softly, lifting his hand up to touch a small cut near Luffy's temple — one that Ace himself had caused. "Maybe they shouldn't be."

"Don't talk like that." Luffy smiled again. "You care about them, right? They've been good to you."

"They haven't been good to you," Ace argued, scanning Luffy's injuries once again. "I haven't been good to you."

Luffy shook his head with a chuckle and raised himself onto his toes to give Ace a kiss. "It's all right, love. I don't mind."

"You should," said Ace. "Can't you see how unhealthy this is?"

"I don't think love needs to be healthy," Luffy soothed.

Ace made a melancholic, frustrated noise. "You're so… so…"

He trailed off, stopping his thought to instead bend down quickly and take Luffy's lips in a rough kiss.

"…Stupid," he finished against Luffy's mouth.

Luffy hummed contently as he pulled back. "I have to run home before my Gramps gets angry. See you tomorrow?"

A flash of his friends cornering Luffy against the lockers crossed Ace's mind unbidden. It happened every day like clockwork.

"Tomorrow," Ace echoed bitterly.

Luffy turned to leave, but just before he was out of sight he looked back over his shoulder at Ace. He grinned in a way that said I trust you.

Ace met it with eyes that said Please don't.

13.07.08

Dedicated to Animezpeps for their birthday, which was… a week ago… and they actually asked for a sequel to In the Corner of His Eye… Don't look at me like that. I had computer troubles and this is the best I could do.