Vampires Destined
Chapter One: Meeting

Summary: Ace, the new kid, moves into town. Luffy, the freak boy made of rubber, befriends Ace. The two soon become as close as brothers. But Ace has a dark secret himself... Will Luffy be safe? Or will he end up being dinner for the hungry?

Rating: T... Maybe M later? ;)
Pairings: AcexLuffy, ZoroxSanji, slight ShuraiyaxAce and ShuraiyaxLuffy
Warnings: Maybe lemon later...? ;P

"And so we meet at last, whoever you are."
-Homer Simpson

XXVDXX

Luffy stared at the wooden ceiling while laying on his bed. He was bored. Shanks had gone out of town again for another business meeting. Shanks was known for his adventures he had over seas. He and several others were know as Warlords of the Seas because they were the only ones to sail across the world. The legend goes they had left to sail across the world and did it unharmed. Shanks always told Luffy exciting stories about his adventures on the sea. But no, Shanks had to go those stupid meetings. He was supposed to return tomorrow around 6 a.m.

Luffy sighed again and got up, looking out his window. His eyes widened in curiosity when he was a boy that he had never seen before just standing there. The boy looked around 10 years old, three years older than Luffy. Luffy couldn't tell his facial features from this far away. Luffy, excited to make a new friend, hurriedly ran out of his little house to meet the new boy.

Ace had been walking around the small town, looking at all stores and houses. Apparently everyone was busy cause no one had come to greet his family to the town. Either that or it was a ghost town. He took in a breath and noted that the air was just a tad colder than room temperature and kinda dry. It also didn't really have a smell to it. He also noted that the sky was slightly gray-blue with lots of white clouds. Ace had an orange shirt on and black shorts with an orange elbow-pad-like thing on his left elbow. His orange hat rested on his back as he suddenly fell asleep standing in the middle of town.

Luffy stared at Ace. He never met someone who fell asleep standing up before. It was kinda weird and funny. Luffy knelt down so he could see the boys face. It was a cute little face that had freckled cheeks. Luffy grinned, standing up and tapping the boys shoulders to wake him up.

Ace blinked a few times and stared at the cute and innocent boy that stood in front of him. The young one looked around 7 with black hair and big innocent brown eyes. Under his right eye was a small scar. "Are you okay?" Ace blinked.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" The younger one asked again. "You fell asleep standing up."

"Oh, that. That was my narcolepsy." The boy gave him a confused stare, along with a slight tilt of his head. "It's a disorder that makes you fall asleep at random."

"Oh. Well my name is Luffy."

"I'm Ace."

"Ace?" Ace nodded. He wondered if the boy was gonna tease his name just like all the other kids did from his old home. Not that he cared, he was already used to it. He just didn't want to have beat up such a cute kid. "What a cool name!"

"You...you really think so?" The freckled boy asked, surprised. Luffy smiled and nodded. "Thanks..."

"So do you have a girlfriend?" Ace, who was taken back by the question, gave a weird look to Luffy and slightly leaned away.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just wondering. Shanks says cute boys like you get girlfriends at early ages." Ace gave a small blush. "So do you have one?" He pressed on.

"Well, no. I don't like the girls where I came from. They're all snotty and such… so what are you doing today?"

"Nothing. Shanks is out of town so I'm bored." Ace blinked.

"Wait, you mean the Shanks? 'Red-Hair' Shanks?"

"Yep! He's the one taking care of me."

"Wow, you're lucky!"

"Shishishi, yep! That's what Shanks says. So who did you move here with?"

"My foster parents..."

"Oh...so you don't know who your real father and mother are?"

"No, I know who they are." Luffy noticed Ace tense about the subject for a second before Ace changed the subject. "So where's all your friends?"

"Oh, well, I don't have any friends...They just tease me and beat me up."

"Why?"

"Cause I guess I'm always so hyper and stupid-"

"You are not stupid. And who cares if you're a little hyper?"

"Well... they also beat me up cause I'm different from everyone else..."

"Well everyone is different."

"No, Ace. I'm special."

"What do you mean?" Luffy bit his bottom lip and looked at the ground. Ace started to get a little worried about the boy. 'Huh, funny. I hate everyone in the world and yet the moment I lay eyes on this kid, all my anger disappears.' "Luffy?"

"I was born with...a... Ace, if I tell you, do you promise not to hate me? Or laugh at me?"

"Well of course I promise. Why would I hate you or laugh at you?"

"The last person who promised ended up hating me and beat me up... so please don't. I was born with a specialty. Normally, they say I wasn't supposed to get it until I turned twelve or so."

"What power?" Luffy took in a deep breath and continued to look at the ground.

"My body is made of...rubber." Luffy pulled his cheek which stretched like rubber. Ace blinked at Luffy as there was a long awkward silence between the two boys. Suddenly, Ace bursted into laughter, making Luffy let go of his cheek and recoil.

"L-Luffy...Y-you're afraid I would hate you because of that?" Ace continued laughing.

"Well, yeah. Everyone in the town hates me because I'm different. Aren't you afraid too?"

"Of course not, Lu! You should be proud of what you are."

"I am proud! I just wanted a friend is all… Wait, Lu?"

"Yeah. I'll call you Lu from now on. As a nickname of coarse." Luffy blushed a little.

"So then you'll be my friend?"

"Of course."

"Woo-hoo!" Ace chuckled.

"So can you show me around town, please?"

"Sure!" Luffy showed all the shops and hiding places around the town. He showed him which house belong to who, which house was okay to play pranks on, which stores had the best food and so on. They chatted a little and made some jokes. To sum it up, they were become friends quite fast, much to Ace's surprise. They were heading back to Luffy's place when a gang of kids, all the age of 14, stepped in the two boys way.

"Hey freak! Looks like you made a new friend!" Luffy just ignored the boy and continued to walk with Ace. "Does he know about your secret? About being rubber?"

"Yeah, he knows..." The bully was a little shocked, but just kept throwing insults at the younger boy.

"Why don't he run away from the kid? He's a freak of nature! Nobody likes him! Normal people don't need freaks like him around!" Ace, now pissed off, clenched his fists, turned around and took a step towards the boy.

"Why don't you shut the hell up?" Ace said in deadly tone.

"Oh, so you're sticking up for the freak? You see, us normal people and freaks don't belong in the same place, ya know?. So come with us. Leave that freak behind." Ace looked back at Luffy over his shoulder, who looked like he had been betrayed, before looking at the ground.

"Ace…?" Luffy's quiet voice called, slightly cracked.

"Shut up, freak." Ace's hands clenched and he snapped his head up to look at the bullies.

"Don't tell him to shut up."

"Excuse me? A normal sticking up for a freak?"

"Well guess what? I ain't normal like you jerks. I rather be a freak."

"What? Get real, kid! That kid is a danger to us al-" Ace's fist connected with the boys cheek, sending the bully flying.

"Leave. Luffy. Alone," he growled dangerously.

"Get that little freak, guys! He can't protect him against us al-!" The group looked at Ace but froze when they saw him step towards them.

"If you wanna fight Luffy, you gotta go through me first." Ace's eyes seemed like they were on fire with hatred.

"R-Retreat!" The group got up and ran, leaving the two boys alone. Ace smirked and looked at Luffy who stared at him with awe.

"Thanks for standing up for me. Wow, you must be strong to send that bully flying!"

"Of course I'm strong, I train everyday! I'm probably stronger than all the kids here."

"Well you're not stronger then me."

"Yes I am."

"Not! You haven't even seen how strong I am! My punch is as powerful as a pistol!"

"Then my punch is as strong as a cannon."

"Really? Awesome!" Ace gave a chuckle.

"Man, you get excited about the littlest things."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Well, yeah. I guess so."

"Thanks! Say, you wanna come over to my house for awhile? Shanks doesn't come home till tomorrow, so we'll have the whole house to ourselves!"

"I would, but I still gotta finish unpacking all my stuff. I'll meet you back here around 7?"

"Okay! See ya later Ace!"

"See ya, Luffy!" As soon as Luffy was out of sight, Ace gave out a sigh. He really didn't wanna go back to his foster parents. They were never quite fond of him, always telling him what not to do and ignoring him. And when they did finally notice him, it always meant bad news. So when he walked into the small house, he just went straight up to his room and started unpacking. It wasn't till he was almost done unpacking when his mother slammed open the door. It only took him a second to notice she was drunk, which wasn't good news.

"Ace! What the hell you doing?"

"I'm unpacking my stuff."

"Did you unpack your clothes already?

"…No."

"I thought I told you to always unpack your clothes first!"

"I'm sorry, I forgot."

"Forgot? You little scum bag! You ain't even worth spit!" She walked up to him and slapped him. "Now go downstairs and take out the trash!"

"B– okay." Ace quickly went downstairs and took out the trash. "Anything else you would like me to do?"

"Yeah, you can go die."

"I'll be upstairs," he whispered. Ace quickly started to run up the stairs while rubbing his cheek.

"Hey, get back here!" His father called. Ace flinched at his voice. "Come here, now!" He ran down the stairs to find his father waiting in the living room.

"Yes, father?"

"What is that on my chair?" Ace looked on the black leather chair and saw a small blotch of something white on the arm of it. It kinda looked like paint... or white guano.

"I don't know. It wasn't there earlier." His father eyed him.

"You did this, didn't you?"

"Wha- no! No, I didn't!"

"We took you in for what? So you could disrespect us?"

"No, no, I respect-"

"Enough with the excuses! That's all you ever come up with, isn't it? Excuses! Hey, don't fall asleep while I'm talking to you!" He punched Ace in the face which immediately woke him up from his narcoleptic nap. "Go upstairs, and don't come down! You'll have no dinner tonight or breakfast in the morning!" Ace walked up stairs and slowly closed the door, glaring at it with his chubby little face. His left eye was already black and blue. He sat down on his bed and sighed. One day, Ace would get away from all of this. He would live somewhere nice with a friend without a care in the world. A friend…

Luffy!

Ace looked at the clock and saw it was 6:44. He had to go meet Luffy! If he didn't show up, Luffy would get the wrong idea! Ace thought about what he should do. 'What the hell. I bet Luffy's worth a hundred punches and slaps! I just gotta sneak out of the house...ah-ha! I'll go out the window!' Ace opened his window and slowly climbed outside. He looked down at the ground and jumped. Landing safely, he ran to the place he was gonna meet Luffy.

He waited there for 13 minutes when he saw Luffy running toward him at full speed, a giant grin on his face. Ace easily caught the hyper child when tripped over a pebble. "Woah, thanks for the save, Ace!"

"No problem, Lu." Luffy looked up at Ace and frowned.

"Ace, your eye is black and blue."

"It is?"

"Yep...what happened? Did someone punch you?" Ace slightly tensed but still gave a grin.

"No, I just hit a doorknob when I had a N.E."

"N...E?"

"Narcoleptic Episode."

"Oh! I see! So what do you wanna do?"

"Well… Wanna play pirate?"

"I love playing pirate! I told Shanks I was probably a pirate in my last life."

"That's so weird, I think I was too!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Alright, I'm second-in-command on Whitbeard's crew!"

"Who's Whitebeard?"

"I dunno. Just came to my mind."

"Alright, then I'm captain of the Straw Hat Pirates!"

"Ok, lets go!" The two boys played for an hour until it was dark. Ace looked in the direction of his home and sighed. "Guess I gotta go home now..."

"Hey, why don't you spend the night at my house!"

"Well I don't know if I can..." 'What the hell.' Ace thought. 'Might as well just spend the night. After all, you only live once, right?' "Sure, I'll stay over."

"Are you sure? You won't get in trouble?"

"I don't care if do or not. Besides, I could use a break from my foster parents."

"Alright! Let's go!" And as the two boys headed for Luffy's home, Ace couldn't help but give a small smile. Maybe, just maybe, things would start to get better in his life.

XxXxX
I have been DYING to upload this! But I promised myself I wouldn't upload it until I had at least three chapters done and I finished my other story Depressed. So here it is! How'd you like it? Something a little new I thought of. Please leave a review on what you think and maybe how I can improve anything. Arigato~!

The darkness I liveth, the darkness I love
~roo the nobody vampire